Monday, October 17, 2011

Commodities: Hedge Funds Add to Wagers in Biggest Rally of 2011

Think this is going to be a recession like the last one? Think again.
The good people at Bloomberg tell us speculators boosted their wagers on higher commodity prices for the first time in five weeks as increasing confidence that the global economy will avoid another recession spurred the biggest rally of the year.

Money managers boosted combined net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options by 0.2 percent to 656,691 contracts in the week ended Oct. 11, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of 24 commodities rose 5.2 percent last week, the most since December and enough to take the gauge out of the bear market it entered last month. Hedge funds had cut their bets by 49 percent in the previous four weeks.

The surge in prices mirrored the advance in global equities, while Treasuries declined for a third consecutive week, on mounting investor confidence. Leaders from the biggest economies began talks to tame Europe’s debt crisis and Slovakia provided the needed approval to enhance a euro region bailout fund. U.S. retail sales rose the most in seven months…

Find out more at http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-17/hedge-funds-add-to-wagers-in-biggest-rally-of-2011-commodities.html

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