In lieu of our newsletter which did not run yesterday due to President’s day we are posting our normal week in review on the blog. Also – we are thinking of making this a permanent feature of the blog, so please feel free to give us your feedback and let us know what you think.
***Summary***
Market activity last week was again mostly higher as participants continued to remain fixated on another bevy of constructive economic reports, strong earnings and a flurry of M&A activity. The growth and inflationary mantra was also seen in the emerging market arena as well, although geopolitical unrest in the Middle East and the upcoming Presidents Day weekend held volume in check. Silver +7.55%, hitting a new 31-year high, led the metals complex with Cotton +5.05% leading the soft and food sector again attaining a new all-time high this week. Other news worthy action had RBOB Gasoline +2.87% leading the rally in energies, Swiss Franc +2.90% led the continentals higher versus the U.S. Dollar and the Stock Index sector ended higher across the board achieving new 2+ year highs and a third consecutive week of higher closes with Russell 2000 Futures +1.64% posting the best appreciation for the week. A few weak areas were also seen with Wheat -4.26%, Soybeans -3.34% and Sugar -3.30% all pressured by better growing conditions in the Southern Hemisphere.
Managed Futures
Multi-market traders continue to enjoy superb trading conditions as volatility and trading ranges have picked up considerably across most market sectors as unrest in the Middle East has provided the jolt to the markets traders were looking for.
At the close of Friday’s business James River Navigator is our top performing multi-strategy program at +5.66% and Bouchard Capital is the top performing short-term trader at +8.53%. Both of these programs have been able to take advantage of short-term market moves including long trades in metals and stocks; along with short positions in grains last week. Congratulations to both managers on a great start to the month.
Other multi-market programs that have a had strong month of February thus far include Accela Global Short Term +5.86%, APA Modified +2.89%, APA Strategic Diversification +2.28%, Dominion Sapphire +2.10%, Robinson-Langley +2.00%, Quantum Leap +1.60%, Hoffman Asset +0.97%, Dighton Aggressive +0.94%, 2100 Xenon 2X +0.93%, Integrated Global Concentrated +0.87%, DMH +0.64%, Futures Truth SAM 101 +0.64%, and Auctos Global +0.22%.
Trend following strategies have struggled throughout the month as reversals in market direction along with the increased velocity of these moves has caused most trend following programs to give back gains accrued late last year. Multi-market programs in the red this month include Mesirow Low Volatility -0.15%, Mesirow Absolute Return -0.21%, Clarke Capital Global Basic -0.20%, Clarke Global Magnum -0.63%, Futures Truth MS4 -1.00%, Clarke Worldwide -1.16%, Covenant Capital Aggressive -3.83%, and GT Capital -6.25%.
Stock index programs continue to suffer in a climate of low market volatility – although today’s selloff in the S&P 500 should help open up the market a little bit. Heading into today Roe Jefferson -1.62%, Paskewitz 3X Contrarian -1.71% and Roe Monticello Spread -2.45% all were in the red.
Option trading managers continue to be mixed with diversified managers generally ahead and stock index trading strategies mostly negative. The top performer has been White River Group +5.68%. WRG is a deep out of the money premium collection strategy with a core focus on 4 markets (Gold, 30 Year Bonds, Euro, and Crude). Other positive estimates include; Liberty Funds Group +1.11%, FCI OSS +1.10%, FCI CPP +1.0%, and ACE SIPC +0.59%. Option managers in the red for the month include; HB Capital -0.01%, Crescent Bay BVP -0.18%, Cervino Diversified -0.70%, Crescent Bay PSI -1.10%, ACE DCP -1.26%, Cervino Diversified 2x -1.58%, and Clarity Capital -3.05%.
Specialty market managers have continued to be dominated by the agriculture traders. Leading the way has been Oak Investment Group +2.85%, followed by NDX Shadrach +2.29%, Rosetta +0.92%, NDX Abednego +0.56%, and then Global Ag -0.58%. Gold specialists are mixed with Cervino Gold +2.16% and AFB Forty Eighter -0.16%. Spread trader Emil Van Essen is currently following up their amazing January performance with a positive +1.23%. Finally, interest rate specialist 2100 Xenon is down slightly -0.46%.
Trading Systems
Last week was very similar to two weeks ago. The Bam systems and PSI! led the way.
The Bam systems continue to pick the top and bottom of the moves in the Emini S&P 500 market really well. The Bam systems entered the week long and reversed short near the high on Monday. On Tuesday, the eMini S&P 500 market opened nearly 4 points lower from where the Bam systems had gotten short, Bam took profit and reversed long. Once again, the Bam systems picked the perfect time to reverse and get long. They stayed long through Wednesday and Thursday but on Friday near the high of the day, the Bam systems got out of the long trade and reversed short. For the week Bam 90 ES made $5,167.50, Bam 90 M Squared ES made $4,660, and Bam 90 Single Contract ES made $1,510.00. Other positive results included Polaris up $57.50 and Waugh CTO ERL up $350.00.
On the downside for the week were MoneyMaker ES down -$72.50, AG Mechwarrior ES down -$902.50, MoneyBeans S down -$1,026.07, and Jaws US 60 down -$1,122.50.
On the day trading side, PSI! ERL once again led the way with a profit of $180.00 for the week. PSI! ERL only traded once last week and that was on Wednesday where it got long early in the morning. It stayed long despite the pullback in the mini Russell 2000 market. Other positive results included UpperHand ES at $57.50 and Clipper ERL at $90.00.
Managed Futures Disclaimer:
Past Performance is Not Necessarily Indicative of Future Results. The regulations of the CFTC require that prospective clients of a managed futures program (CTA) receive a disclosure document when they are solicited to enter into an agreement whereby the CTA will direct or guide the client’s commodity interest trading and that certain risk factors be highlighted. The disclosure document contains a complete description of the principal risk factors and each fee to be charged to your account by the CTA.
Trading System Disclaimer:
The dollar amounts listed for trading systems represent the actual profits and losses achieved on a single contract basis in client accounts, and are inclusive of a $50 per round turn commission ($30 per e-mini contracts). Except where noted, the gains/losses are for closed out trades.
The actual percentage gains/losses experienced by investors will vary depending on many factors, including, but not limited to: starting account balances, market behavior, the duration and extent of investor’s participation (whether or not all signals are taken) in the specified system and money management techniques. Because of this, actual percentage gains/losses experienced by investors may be materially different than the percentage gains/losses as presented on this website.
Please read carefully the CFTC required disclaimer regarding hypothetical results below.
HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE MANY INHERENT LIMITATIONS, SOME OF WHICH ARE DESCRIBED BELOW. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN; IN FACT, THERE ARE FREQUENTLY SHARP DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS AND THE ACTUAL RESULTS SUBSEQUENTLY ACHIEVED BY ANY PARTICULAR TRADING PROGRAM. ONE OF THE LIMITATIONS OF HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS IS THAT THEY ARE GENERALLY PREPARED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. IN ADDITION, HYPOTHETICAL TRADING DOES NOT INVOLVE FINANCIAL RISK, AND NO HYPOTHETICAL TRADING RECORD CAN COMPLETELY ACCOUNT FOR THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL RISK OF ACTUAL TRADING. FOR EXAMPLE, THE ABILITY TO WITHSTAND LOSSES OR TO ADHERE TO A PARTICULAR TRADING PROGRAM IN SPITE OF TRADING LOSSES ARE MATERIAL POINTS WHICH CAN ALSO ADVERSELY AFFECT ACTUAL TRADING RESULTS. THERE ARE NUMEROUS OTHER FACTORS RELATED TO THE MARKETS IN GENERAL OR TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ANY SPECIFIC TRADING PROGRAM WHICH CANNOT BE FULLY ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE PREPARATION OF HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS AND ALL WHICH CAN ADVERSELY AFFECT TRADING RESULTS.
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ATTAIN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC.
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This communication is intended for the sole use of the intended recipient and is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as investment advice, or an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. No market data or other information is warranted by Attain Capital Management as to completeness or accuracy, express or implied, and is subject to change without notice. Any comments or statements made herein do not necessarily reflect those of Attain Capital Management, or their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, officers or employees.
Disclaimer
The performance data displayed herein is compiled from various sources, including BarclayHedge, and reports directly from the advisors. These performance figures should not be relied on independent of the individual advisor's disclosure document, which has important information regarding the method of calculation used, whether or not the performance includes proprietary results, and other important footnotes on the advisor's track record.
The programs listed here are a sub-set of the full list of programs able to be accessed by subscribing to the database and reflect programs we currently work with and/or are more familiar with.
Benchmark index performance is for the constituents of that index only, and does not represent the entire universe of possible investments within that asset class. And further, that there can be limitations and biases to indices such as survivorship, self reporting, and instant history. Individuals cannot invest in the index itself, and actual rates of return may be significantly different and more volatile than those of the index.
Managed futures accounts can subject to substantial charges for management and advisory fees. The numbers within this website include all such fees, but it may be necessary for those accounts that are subject to these charges to make substantial trading profits in the future to avoid depletion or exhaustion of their assets.
Investors interested in investing with a managed futures program (excepting those programs which are offered exclusively to qualified eligible persons as that term is defined by CFTC regulation 4.7) will be required to receive and sign off on a disclosure document in compliance with certain CFT rules The disclosure documents contains a complete description of the principal risk factors and each fee to be charged to your account by the CTA, as well as the composite performance of accounts under the CTA's management over at least the most recent five years. Investor interested in investing in any of the programs on this website are urged to carefully read these disclosure documents, including, but not limited to the performance information, before investing in any such programs.
Those investors who are qualified eligible persons as that term is defined by CFTC regulation 4.7 and interested in investing in a program exempt from having to provide a disclosure document and considered by the regulations to be sophisticated enough to understand the risks and be able to interpret the accuracy and completeness of any performance information on their own.
RCM receives a portion of the commodity brokerage commissions you pay in connection with your futures trading and/or a portion of the interest income (if any) earned on an account's assets. The listed manager may also pay RCM a portion of the fees they receive from accounts introduced to them by RCM.
Limitations on RCM Quintile + Star Rankings
The Quintile Rankings and RCM Star Rankings shown here are provided for informational purposes only. RCM does not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this information. The ranking methodology is proprietary and the results have not been audited or verified by an independent third party. Some CTAs may employ trading programs or strategies that are riskier than others. CTAs may manage customer accounts differently than their model results shown or make different trades in actual customer accounts versus their own accounts. Different CTAs are subject to different market conditions and risks that can significantly impact actual results. RCM and its affiliates receive compensation from some of the rated CTAs. Investors should perform their own due diligence before investing with any CTA. This ranking information should not be the sole basis for any investment decision.
See the full terms of use and risk disclaimer here.