Commodities: Global OPEC Oil Output Rose over 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), reaching 27.6 million bpd in August, as Iranian supply increased to its highest since 2018 (see graphic right). Per Bloomberg, American officials privately acknowledged a “lighter touch” in enforcing sanctions on Tehran’s oil sales. Iran has restored…
Ukraine: Fall Offensive? The Ukraine-Russia Conflict slogged forward with the Ukrainian military making little progress despite the infusion of US/EU equipment. By necessity to avoid higher casualty rates, the attack tempo stayed slow – recall that Ukraine has one-third the population of Russia and its soldiers (and citizens) have…
During the month of August, Grains (+3.40%) and Softs (+1.29%) were the top performers. The bottom performers were Crypto (-11.31%) and Livestock (-6.26%). Leading up to the two-day Jackson Hole symposium, markets were bearish as uncertainty arose around the future economic outlook. Chair Powell went on to announce the economy…
2023 has shown regression from 2022 in terms of CTA performance. CTA indices are reporting modest results, with Barclay’s CTA index posting ~0.50% return through June 2023, and the SG CTA index posting a comparable number. Similar to 2022, trend following strategies are receiving most of the attention and causing…