FAIRFIELD, Iowa, August 17, 2009– Managed futures traders had mixed results in July, averaging out to a 0.06% loss according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.
“Intra-month price reversals in major futures markets made for a difficult trading environment in July,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.
Six of Barclay’s eight managed futures indices lost ground in July. The Diversified Traders Index fell 0.81%, Discretionary Traders were down 0.54%, Systemic Traders lost 0.30%, and Currency Traders slid 0.06%.
“Global equity markets started the month on a down note, but better than expected economic data helped to drive the MSCI World Index to an advance of almost 15% from its monthly lows,” says Waksman.
“Positive news on the economic front also fueled an increase in investor appetite for risk, helping to drive the US Dollar lower against major currencies.”
Two managed futures strategies were profitable in July. Barclay’s Financial and Metals Traders Index gained 0.62%, and Agricultural Traders were up 0.06%.
“On the commodity side, prices were down in the first part of the month, but rallied strongly in the last few days,” says Waksman.
“The CRB index jumped more than five percent in the final two trading sessions, ending the month with a three percent gain.”
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, lost 0.45% in July, and is down 3.95% in 2009.
Click here to view 28 years of Barclay CTA Index data.
Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends. For more commentary or background, call 641-472-3456 or email swaksman@barclayhedge.com.
BarclayHedge (formerly The Barclay Group) was founded in 1985 and actively tracks more than 6,000 hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes.