There haven’t been too many Risk On/ Risk Off days to speak of in 2014, with just 1 ‘risk on’ day in both February and March.This is no doubt another sign that the ‘recovery’ is in full force, with markets dancing to their own beat instead of following equities higher or lower on big moves.
Category: Markets
01
Apr
2014
24
Mar
2014
7 Commodities in Contango and Backwardation
One of the more unique aspects of futures contracts compared to other investment styles, is that there are fixed term contracts which expire at specific dates, and many different ‘contract months’ for each commodity futures market. Charting these different prices for the different contract months gives you what they call the price “curve” of either backwardation or contango.
10
Mar
2014
23 Commodity, Equity, and Currency Markets since the 2009 Low
It seems like only yesterday we had 700 point down moves in the Dow, Lehman going bankrupt, and billions and billions in bailouts being handed out as the stock market made new lows seemingly every week, dragging down most commodity markets with it. But can you believe it’s actually been 5 years. Here are 23 commodity, equity, and currency markets since the March 9, 2009 low
06
Mar
2014
Chart of the Week: Hog Prices and the Deadly Diarrhea Swine Virus
Sometimes the headlines just write themselves… Hogs have been up 15 out of the past 20 days, with a run of six straight up days in there and two “up limit” moves based on this diarrhea virus. Just what is ‘up limit’ or as it’s also called – ‘Limit Up’? And how much could you lose if you were on the wrong side of the trade?
03
Mar
2014
The Intertwining of Commodities and the Ukrainian Russian Conflict
Russia and Ukraine grow about 17% of the global supply of Wheat and 16% of Corn, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Plus, Natural Gas is a small factor in the conflict. Will these markets be affected?
19
Feb
2014
Coffee by the Numbers
Coffee is up big yet again today (+11% big… in a day). That’s not saying it wouldn’t drop just as quickly in the same amount of time, frustrating those on the long side, but why not take a look at this impressive move by the numbers while we can:
19
Feb
2014
Natural Gas Volatility Explodes…. Again!
Natural Gas is back at it again today, pushing through its past highs by going over $6; something not seen by investors since 2009. But is this just because of the current weather conditions and forecast, or is this a more secular change in Natural Gas volatility. Are the good old days back for good? To check that out, we took a look at the historical volatility of the March 2014 futures contract versus the January 2015 contract.
17
Feb
2014
The Dark Side of the Moon Asset Class Scoreboard
Maybe it’s just the die-hard Pink Floyd’s fan that we are, but we can’t help but think that January’s asset class scoreboard chart looks a little bit like the Dark Side of the Moon album cover…
29
Jan
2014
Natural Gas Volatility Exploding
Well, not too long after we discussed the recent contraction in volatility across managed futures, everyone’s favorite energy as of late, Natural Gas, has done just that sort of volatility uncoiling, with the 3 day Average True Range jumping about 200% in the last week! That’s swings of about $5,600 per contract on average the past few days, levels not seen since back in the volatility hay day of 2008/2009.
24
Jan
2014
Natural Gas Linkfest
While everyone else will likely be talking about the Dow’s back to back days losing about 500 points – we can help but give a little love to Natural Gas with a special Nat Gas edition of our weekend reads:
