Our newsletter for the week is up, and it’s obvious that we have one thing on the brain: Thanksgiving dinner. That’s right- with Thanksgiving coming up this Thursday (where has the time gone this year?), many of us are finding our dreams peppered with the smells of creamy mashed potatoes, green bean casseroles, pumpkin pie, […]
Category: Managed Futures
22
Nov
2011
21
Nov
2011
Managed Futures AUM Spikes Despite Performance
It’s been a rough year for managed futures; that’s certainly hard to argue against, with the predominant up trend across many markets in the beginning of the year reversing course in July, then that downtrend being reversed in October. What’s encouraging on our end is that, despite negative performance, assets under management for the asset […]
16
Nov
2011
They’re finally starting to get it…
Most of the time, when we see managed futures mentioned by the mainstream press, we find ourselves shaking our heads at the botched application of industry terminology or gross misunderstanding of the asset class as a whole. In other (far too frequent) cases, we end up having to restrain ourselves from attempting to verbally eviscerate […]
08
Nov
2011
An October to Forget
As we compiled our newsletter for this week, we looked back over the month of October with a wistful sense of “if only.” Ahh, to be back just a short month ago on October 4th. Global markets were in a pronounced down trend, with the S&P 500 down below 1100, Crude Oil down near $75, […]
07
Nov
2011
Continued Complications in the MF Global Mess
Many were hoping that the weekend would bring some clarity to the MF Global situation. Unfortunately, things are, if at all possible, more muddled than ever. While sentiment soared upon learning the CME had brokered a deal that would unlock some of MF Global client funds, as we pointed out last week, the rejoicing was […]
04
Nov
2011
The Collapse of the Brent/WTI Trade?
It was all the way back in June when we first touched on the unique opportunity being presented in the pricing differences between Brent Crude and WTI (West Texas Intermediate) Crude. With Brent in backwardation (meaning further out months are less expensive than the nearest months/spot price) and WTI in contango (meaning just the opposite, […]
02
Nov
2011
Position Limits Rule Hits the Federal Register
In the wake of the CFTC passing position limit regulation mid-October, we put up a post contending that, if application of the rules mirrored application of prior limits, it would likely have a non-existent impact on our industry. The final rule is now in the Federal Register, and can be viewed here. Fair warning- it’s […]
01
Nov
2011
October rally unkind to Managed Futures
What looked like it was going to be a great month for managed futures after the first couple days of October quickly turned the other way as a big rally in stocks, energies, foreign currencies, and more caused a sharp reversal from the months long decline in those assets since July. When the paint dried […]
27
Oct
2011
Anatomy of a Trend Following Trade- the Short Exit
We’ve spent a fair amount of time covering a fictional Crude trade in order to better illustrate how a typical trend following trade operates. We covered the long side entry in March when the Middle East and Japan threw the markets for a loop, and updated when the trade got stopped out in May. We […]
25
Oct
2011
Managed Futures Spotlight: Covenant Capital Management
Our weekly newsletter is up, and we’re taking a look at a manager that has continued to impress as time has gone on. It has been nearly two years since we first profiled Covenant Capital Management in March of 2010. At the time, Covenant Capital Aggressive Program was, in our opinion, an up and coming trend […]
