FAIRFIELD, Iowa, October 15, 2007– Managed futures gained 3.76% in September after losing 1.63% in August according to flash estimates from the Barclay CTA Index.
“The Federal Reserve took aggressive action at its September meeting and cut the U.S. federal funds rate by 0.50% rather than 0.25% as was expected,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group.
All eight of Barclay’s CTA indexes were profitable in September. Diversified Traders jumped 5.24%, Systematic Traders gained 4.14%, and the Financial & Metal Traders Index was up 2.31%.
“The larger than expected rate reduction fueled inflation fears and increased downward pressure on the U.S. Dollar,” says Waksman.
“Commodity prices, including the energy complex and metals, rallied as the Dollar sunk to new lows against the Euro.”
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, gained 2.66% in September.
“Global stock markets overcame investor concerns and rallied as confidence increased that central banks would act to avert a major decline,” says Waksman.
7 of the 8 of Barclay managed futures indexes show modest gains for the year. The only loser is the Agricultural Traders Index, down 2.26% in 2007.
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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 sol@barclayhedge.com.
The Barclay Group, founded in 1985, actively tracks more than 6,400 hedge funds, fund of hedge funds, and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes.
Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize Barclay’s data as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.