Hedge Funds Cool On Commodities?

August 15, 2012 12:00pm by

Click to enlarge:

Source: Bianco research

Various hedge funds that had extensive commodity exposure have been throttling back, according to a recent Bloomberg report:

“Hedge funds trimmed bets on a commodity rally for the first time in nine weeks as signs of U.S. growth and speculation that central banks will do more to stimulate economies drove prices to a three-month high. Money managers lowered their net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options by 1.9 percent to 1.2 million contracts in the week ended Aug. 7, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show.

The decline ended eight consecutive weeks of gains, the longest streak on record. Soybean wagers dropped by the most since early June just as prices surged for three days and reached a two-week high… Inflows to raw-material funds totaled $736 million in the week ended Aug. 9, according to EPFR Global, which tracks the funds. Inflows into precious metals accounted for $626.8 million, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said.”

–Hedge Funds Reduce Wagers After Longest-Ever Rally, Bloomberg.com

While true that money managers reduced their net position in commodities such as soybeans, perhaps some perspective is needed. As the blue line in the chart below shows, money managers are still very close to a net long extreme position in soybean futures. In fact, most of the grain futures affected by the drought are close to extreme net long positions within the managed money community.

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