We re-jogged our memories about the definitions of Contango and Backwardation when Crude Oil experienced the highest level of backwardation in 15 years. Now, Newedge is out with a great piece tackling everything from the CME fine tuning the nickel content allowed in deliverable crude, to Egypt’s foreign reserves to the Jones Act which requires any goods moving from a US port to another US port to be done on a US flagged vessel.
Category: Macro Commentary
31
Jul
2013
24
Jul
2013
Commodity “Supercycle” Over?
The Wall Street Journal’s latest headline is claiming, “Investors, Analysts See End of Commodity ‘Supercycle.” We’re wondering if a “supercycle” was here to begin with. Regardless, recent commodity movement isn’t surprising as they typically show volatile short term swings. Here are more takeaways:
23
Jul
2013
Beer, Aluminum, and the Red Sofa
Financial media is all over Miller-Coors’ frustrations claiming London Metal Exchange’s lack of regulations is leading to the banks artificially raising prices. However, what’s catching our eye is the humorous Wall Street Journal article detailing the quirky and bizarre rules, such as traders having to be attached to a red sofa.
19
Jul
2013
ETF’s: A Fly or a Bull?
The goal of trading models is to be a fly on the bull’s back, but not be the bull. ETF’s have long sold themselves as that fly – now giving investors a way to follow along with almost anything you can think of. Some are wondering if it’s possible for the fly to move the bull. However, we found ETF’s simply might not be big enough to move the bull all on their own.
18
Jul
2013
Hedge Fund Advertising – Managed Futures Style
It’s been one week since the SEC made an unprecedented decision to strip the multi-decade old ban on general solicitation by hedge funds, and the potential implications are endless. While we often stand up and tell anyone who will listen that managed futures are not hedge funds… in this case – the privately offered funds of managed futures programs are surely part of ”hedge fund advertising’. So what does this landmark ruling by the Securities folks mean for the commodity pools/managed futures funds sort of caught in between securities and futures regulations:
15
Jul
2013
What’s your Futures Market Marked to?
What do you get when three banks are fined over $2 billion for rigging the Libor rate to make money on derivatives? The British government practically gives it away to The NYSE for the cost of a small cup of coffee. Now, futures exchange ICE will own NYSE Euronext later this year in a $10 Billion deal, and here’s where thing get interesting. You see, ICE is a direct competitor with the CME in interest rate futures tied to Libor, and the CME just happens to have their biggest product (Eurodollar futures) benchmarked to LIBOR.
11
Jul
2013
Doomsday, If you say it Enough, it’s Bound to Come True, Right?
Predicting Doomsday is evolving from the crazies pleading in the streets, to the next fad that doesn’t seem to disappear. Remember how we were all supposed to die during last year’s winter solstice because the Mayan calendar allegedly ended? Well, Doomsday fever is spreading in the finance world. We’ve even been a part of it. […]
10
Jul
2013
PFGBest One Year Later: Where’s my Money?
For those who had accounts at PFG – the overriding questions beyond what happened, what has changed, and all the politics and drama surrounding those items – is when am I going to get more of my money back and how much of my money will I be getting back? To tackle that, we talked with the PFG Bankruptcy trustee Ira Bodenstein:
09
Jul
2013
PFGBest One Year Later: a Chat with James Koutoulas
There’s no question that after the 1-2 punch of scandals involving PFG and MF Global, the managed futures community toke it upon themselves to advocate for changes. Shortly after the MF Global incident, the Customer Commodity Coalition was formed to conceptualize the frustrations of the customers into visible results. It only seems fitting that on the 1 Year Anniversary of the PFG scandal, we sit down with friend and colleague, James Koutoulas of the CCC and chat.
09
Jul
2013
PFGBest One Year Later: New Rules
We’re dedicating our time to PFG coverage on the 1 year anniversary. But beyond talk about the hard work people have been doing – more than a few former PFG (and MF Global clients, too) want to know what exactly has been put in place since the PFG fraud to move the industry forward. Without further ado, the most important new rules and changes we’ve seen in the past year:
