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May 31st, 2012
Dollar Index Futures – The dollar posted its biggest monthly gain since 2011 in May, beating bonds, stocks and commodities for the first time this year as investors sought refuge in U.S. assets while Europe’s sovereign crisis worsened.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners, climbed 5.5 percent in May. Global fixed-income assets gained 1.1 percent, including reinvested interest, Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes show. The MSCI All-Country World Index of stocks lost 8.9 percent with dividends, while the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Total Return Index of metals, fuels and agricultural products fell 13 percent.
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May 31st, 2012
Natural gas futures edged higher Thursday, snapping a four-day losing streak, after the U.S. government said gas inventories rose broadly in line with expectations.
Natural gas futures for July delivery settled 0.4 cents, or 0.2%, higher at $2.422 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Futures began the session lower, falling to as low as $2.377/MMBtu, before reversing course in the hours after the 10:30 a.m. EDT inventory data. They extended their gains after the government also said natural-gas production in March fell to the lowest level since October.
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May 31st, 2012
Commodity Futures – Revenues generated by the 10 largest banks’ commodity units slumped 33 percent in the first quarter as volatility declined, clients reduced trading and gas supplies climbed, according to Coalition, a London-based research company.
Revenues fell to a combined $2 billion from $3 billion a year earlier, Coalition said in a report. Overall revenues at the banks, including from equities, origination and advisory, declined to $51 billion from $53 billion, Coalition said.
The drop in commodity revenues reflects the challenge banks face driving income from energy and metals. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Chief Financial Officer David A. Viniar said in April that lower volatility had reduced opportunities in the quarter. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of raw materials rose 6.8 percent in the smallest quarterly move since 2010.
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May 31st, 2012
Gold futures fell in New York, capping the longest monthly slump since 2000, as Europe’s worsening debt crisis and signs of a U.S. economic slowdown crimped demand for the precious metal.
Higher borrowing costs in Spain are putting pressure on Mariano Rajoy’s five month-old government to join Greece, Portugal and Ireland in seeking a rescue that would be the European Union’s biggest. First-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits rose by 10,000 to 383,000 last week, the Labor Department reported today. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials fell as much as 1.5 percent and was headed for its biggest monthly drop since the recession in October 2008.
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May 31st, 2012
Hog futures surged the most in 16 months on signs of increasing demand for U.S. pork. Cattle prices also rose.
In the wholesale market, the price of pork headed for the biggest monthly gain since July, while loins yesterday rose the most in more than a week, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. That rally indicates high meat sales for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, which ended May 28, said Doug Houghton, an analyst at Brock Associates.
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May 31st, 2012
Commodity Investing – Commodities fell for a third day and are poised for the biggest monthly loss since the recession of 2008 as Europe’s escalating debt crisis dimmed prospects for demand and sent crude oil into a so-called bear market.
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials dropped 1.1 percent to 596.96 at 11:15 a.m. in New York, down 13 percent in May, the most since November 2008. Earlier, the gauge slipped to 595.8, the lowest since Oct. 6. Crude oil is set for the biggest monthly decline since December 2008 in New York, while copper slumped 12 percent.
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May 29th, 2012
Orange juice on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange gained 2.3% Tuesday, after trading as much as 7.9% higher in the session, as tropical storm Beryl dumped rain across top orange-producing state Florida.
It is unknown whether the rains will help or hurt the state’s citrus groves, traders said. But even the hint of fresh fundamental news after a months-long dearth of new supply-and-demand information was enough to send investors who bet that prices would fall scrambling to lock in profits.
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May 29th, 2012
Soybean futures rose for a third straight session on speculation that unusually hot, dry weather may prompt U.S. farmers to reduce the number of acres planted in fields where winter wheat has been harvested.
Record heat, little rain and windy conditions eroded soil moisture in much of the southern Midwest and Mississippi River Valley during the past three days, World Weather Inc. said in a report. Rains beginning May 31 may not provide enough coverage to prevent increased crop stress from warmer temperatures next week, the private forecaster said.
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May 29th, 2012
Sugar futures raw fell for the first time in three sessions on renewed concern that global output will exceed demand as exports expand from Brazil, the world’s biggest producer. Cocoa rose and coffee declined.
Sugar exports from Brazil are more profitable than sales in the domestic market after the real weakened against the dollar over the past three months, according to Cepea, a University of Sao Paulo research group. The advance in Brazil’s center south’s harvest “should weaken prices” as weak demand in the Northern Hemisphere “prompts a global trade surplus into the third quarter,” Hussein Allidina, Morgan Stanley’s head of commodities research, wrote in a report e-mailed today.
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May 29th, 2012
Managed Futures – Emil van Essen, LLC announced that its flagship Spread Trading Program was nominated for four Managed Futures Pinnacle Awards in the following categories: Best Bear Market Manager (HF Index), Best Defensive CTA (Diversified), Best Risk Adjusted Performance (Diversified), and Greatest Returns (High Volatility – Diversified). Award winners will be announced and presented with a BarclayHedge “BTOP” award during a ceremony on June 11, 2012, in Chicago.
“We continue to see strong growth in long-only commodity funds for the foreseeable future, which is providing us with favorable market conditions for alpha generation.”
“We are honored to be nominated for the inaugural Managed Futures Pinnacle Awards sponsored by CME Group and BarclayHedge,” said Emil van Essen, CEO. “We continue to see strong growth in long-only commodity funds for the foreseeable future, which is providing us with favorable market conditions for alpha generation.”
Emil van Essen, LLC has grown from $210M assets under management in 2011 to over $440M in 2012. The Emil van Essen Spread Trading Program has outperformed both the Barclay CTA Index and Goldman Sachs Commodity Index for the last 4 years.
About Emil van Essen, LLC:
Emil van Essen, LLC is a Chicago, Illinois based investment management firm that specializes in commodity spread trading.