We’ve done a couple of posts recently about speculators and how they’re being blamed by politicians and the media for rising consumer prices. And we haven’t made a secret about the fact that we completely disagree. Turns out, we’re not the only ones who think the finger pointing is misplaced/counter-productive/sophomoric. The Huffington Post published an […]
Category: Managed Futures
09
May
2011
06
May
2011
Crude, Trends, and Cursing Your Manager
With the incredible $10 down move in Crude Oil futures yesterday, we wanted to check in on our sample trend following trade from our 3/02 post to see whether the trend remained intact or not. Unfortunately for many long Oil, yesterday’s move did bring Crude Oil futures down below their , 50, 60, 70, 80, […]
06
May
2011
A Commodities Crisis… or Is It?
Commodity prices plunged the most they have since 2009 yesterday, and everyone seems to be losing their minds over it. A quick search for “commodities” in Google news brings up headlines about investors running away from commodities as fast as they can, and how they have lost their luster as an investment opportunity. Ok, time […]
06
May
2011
Responding to the Latest Attack on Managed Futures
As managed futures becomes more and more mainstream, we’re likely to keep running into more and more arguments from those threatened by their existence (stock and bond, buy and hold type financial advisors), leading to us having more and more friendly debates pointing out the flaws in their arguments. The most recent example: Larry Swedroe, […]
03
May
2011
Meeting with Reynoso Asset Management
We met with the principal’s of Reynoso Asset Management in our office today for the first time. The head trader, Joe Reynoso, has been trading options for 30 plus years and used to be a market maker in the S&P futures/options pit. It is always fun to hear about the old days in the pits, […]
03
May
2011
Newsletter: Is Managed Futures an Asset Class?
A few weeks ago we posted on Mack Frankfurter of Cervino Capital’s recent discussion of managed futures and whether or not it is an asset class. Mack argues that it is not, resting his case on the logical fallacies prevalent on the other side of the debate. When considering why managed futures were often described as an asset class, […]
02
May
2011
We estimate managed futures up 2.05% in April
Based on preliminary data from the Newedge CTA Index and the performance of the CTAs we track here at Attain, we are estimating managed futures posted gains of 2.05% in the month of April. Looking at the CTAs we track, the boost seems to have come from multi-market systematic programs, which had a fantastic month […]
29
Apr
2011
Who needs a managed futures broker? YOU.
We recently had a potential client ask us some very pointed questions. “You put all this information on your website about the different CTAs out there,” he said. “Why should I work with you? What’s stopping me from just making the investments on my own?” It’s a fair question, and we’re sure this client is […]
25
Apr
2011
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary… Can Contrarian Investing Strategies Grow Returns?
The market analysis blog Jesse’s Café Americain put up a post last week talking about how contrarian investment strategies have been excessively relied on in recent times, arguing that people have begun to exclude common sense from their investing in the spirit of the strategy. Given the criticism, we thought it might be a good […]
22
Apr
2011
Weekend Reads
As the week draws to a close, the markets continue to wonder just what this S&P Downgrade will actually mean for the U.S. economy. With no easy answers in sight and a holiday weekend kicking off today, we suggest you simply keep your mind amused with the following pieces: Is a declining dollar the “new normal”? […]
