Intelligent Commodity Trading and Risk Management


Book Description

This paper discusses intelligent risk-management techniques and new product innovation in the commodity futures markets. First, though, it reviews the century-plus debate on the role of commodity speculators, given the prevalent concerns that this activity may have a destabilizing impact on commodity prices.




Intelligent Commodity Investing


Book Description

This is the only multi-contributor book on commodity investment offering a breadth of opinions for sophisticated investors. It looks at commodity investment from the following perspectives: the investor, the active manager, the commodity index provider, the risk manager, and the researcher. In response to the rapid growth in the market, this timely publication will bring you up to speed on the trends and challenges of commodity investment, providing you with a practical investment framework. It is a recommended reading for hedge fund managers, pension fund consultants, mutual fund portfolio managers, endowment chief investment officers, futures traders, family office investors, commodity trading advisers, brokers, dealers and MBA students researching this important subject.




Intelligent Commodity Indexing: A Practical Guide to Investing in Commodities


Book Description

THE SECRETS TO CAPITALIZING ON THE COMMODITIES BOOM In the mid-1970s, when Bob Greer scrolled through miles of microfilm in the basement of a public library in order to record commodity prices in his yellow legal pad, the idea of commodities being an investable asset class was way outside the mainstream. Now, it's a multibilliondollar vehicle for achieving portfolio diversification and inflation hedging--and he and his colleagues have written the book on earning better returns than the indexes themselves! In Intelligent Commodity Indexing, Bob joins his fellow leaders of PIMCO's Commodity Practice, Nic Johnson and Mihir Worah, in opening up commodity indexes. Never before has there been a more thorough explanation of how a commodity index works coupled with a powerful set of strategies for making it work for you. Inside, you'll find the most up-to-date tools and time-proven best practices for earning "structural alpha" by capitalizing on recurring risk and liquidity premiums in the commodities markets. It offers the right amount of history and theory to reinforce cuttingedge techniques for: Interpreting how seasonal effects change risk premia Choosing the most profitable market for specific commodity exposure Using intelligent commodity indexing to collect risk premiums in the options market Maximizing roll yield in order to increase long-term returns Managing risk, including specific frameworks and systems Investors gain a superior advantage with this book's coverage of the nuts-and-bolts workings of various markets. Praise for Intelligent Commodity Indexing "A seminal work on an asset class that has grown in importance within institutional portfolios. The authors offer considerable insight to this complex asset class and provide investors with a thorough examination of the drivers of risk and return." -- Julia K. Bonafede, CFA, President of Wilshire Consulting "This is an excellent guide for professional investors to successful investing in commodity indexes." -- Blythe Masters, Head of Global Commodities, JP Morgan "A manual written by successful practitioners for intelligent commodity investors. An excellent guide which explains how this asset class complements and interacts with other investments." -- Alan H. Van Noord, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System "Commodities are invaluable tools for investors wishing to benefit from diversification and inflation hedging. For such an investor, this is the authoritative source to all you need to know about commodity indexing." -- Mark Makepeace, Chief Executive, FTSE Group "Greer, Johnson, and Worah simply explain the critical drivers to commodity index returns that have provided the main historical benefits of diversification and inflation protection. Every commodity index investor, or hopeful investor, should read this book and use it as a guide for evaluating the relevant index characteristics for benchmarking and investing, especially given recent industry innovations." -- Jodie Gunzberg, CFA, Director-Commodities, S&P Indexes




Risk Management in Commodity Markets


Book Description

Commodities represent today the fastest growing markets worldwide. Historically misunderstood, generally under- studied and under- valued, certainly under- represented in the literature, commodities are suddenly receiving the attention they deserve. Bringing together some of the best authors in the field, this book focuses on the risk management issues associated with both soft and hard commodities: energy, weather, agriculturals, metals and shipping. Taking the reader through every part of the commodities markets, the authors discuss the intricacies of modelling spot and forward prices, as well as the design of new Futures markets. The book also looks at the use of options and other derivative contract forms for hedging purposes, as well as supply management in commodity markets. It looks at the implications for climate policy and climate research and analyzes the various freight derivatives markets and products used to manage shipping and freight risk in a global commodity world. It is required reading for energy and mining companies, utilities’ practitioners, commodity and cash derivatives traders in investment banks, CTA’s and hedge funds




Commodity Risk Management


Book Description

Commodity Risk Management goes beyond just an introductory treatment of derivative securities, dealing with more advanced topics and approaching the subject matter from a unique perspective. At its core lies the concept that commodity risk management decisions require an in-depth understanding of speculative strategies, and vice versa. The book offers readers a unified treatment of important concepts and techniques that are useful in applying derivative securities in the management of risk in commodity markets. While some of these techniques are well known and fairly common, Poitras offers applications to specific situations and links to speculative trading strategies - extensions of the material that not only are hard to come by, but helpful to both the academic and the practitioner. The book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the general framework for commodity risk management, the second part focuses on the use of derivative security contracts in commodity risk management, and the third part deals with applications to three specific situations. As a textbook, this book is designed to appeal to classes at a senior undergraduate/MBA/MA levelof training in Finance, financial economics, actuarial science, management science, agriculturaleconomics and accounting. There will also be interest for the book as: a monograph for research libraries, a handbook for individuals working in the commodity risk management industry, and a guidebook for those in the general public interested in topics like farm risk management or the assessment of hedging practices of publicly-traded commodity producers.




Getting Started in Commodities


Book Description

Get this handy roadmap to making money in the commodities market. Getting Started in Commodities shows you how to successfully invest in the commodities market in futures, stocks, stock indices, and options. The book explains how the commodities market works as well as how investors can identify and track commodity opportunities -- using fundamental factors such as supply and demand and technical analysis tools. Fontanills, a seasoned trader and educator, also explains the basis of money management, teaches you how to find the best broker, and how to read seasonal chart patterns. Finally, he explores how to build a winning system and test and adjust it for success. Helpful appendices of contract specifications and additional readings are also included. George A. Fontanills (Miami, FL) is the President Emeritus of Optionetics, the world leader in options education and is also a retired hedge fund manager. Fontanills has written many books, including Trade Options Online (0-471-35938-6), The Volatility Course (0-471-39816-0), and The Volatility Course Workbook (0-471-39817-9).




Risk Intelligent Supply Chains


Book Description

The Turkish economy is very dynamic and growing at phenomenal speeds. For instance, Turkey’s first quarter GDP growth rate was 11 percent in 2011. This growth brings its own risks and benefits. The lessons learned from surviving and thriving in such an environment can be applied to supply chains in any country. Packed with interesting and timely examples from industries such as automotive, airline, and manufacturing, Risk Intelligent Supply Chains: How Leading Turkish Companies Thrive in the Age of Fragility presents strategic insights from various leading Turkish companies regarding their management of supply chain risks. Çağrı Haksöz brings the risk intelligent supply chain (RISC) concept to life for the first time. It answers the question of how to become a risk intelligent supply chain. He proposes the I-Quartet Model with four essential roles "Integrator, Inquirer, Improviser, and Ingenious," that any supply chain network must play to become risk intelligent. The book also presents never-before-published cases and practices of leading Turkish companies that thrive globally in the age of fragility with their supply chain risk intelligence. While providing real-life examples, the book also shares insights obtained in various scientific disciplines. It provides not only an industry focus but also details numerous industry approaches, analyzing their similarities and differences in a manner that allows each industry to learn from the other.




Artificial Intelligence in Financial Markets


Book Description

As technology advancement has increased, so to have computational applications for forecasting, modelling and trading financial markets and information, and practitioners are finding ever more complex solutions to financial challenges. Neural networking is a highly effective, trainable algorithmic approach which emulates certain aspects of human brain functions, and is used extensively in financial forecasting allowing for quick investment decision making. This book presents the most cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI)/neural networking applications for markets, assets and other areas of finance. Split into four sections, the book first explores time series analysis for forecasting and trading across a range of assets, including derivatives, exchange traded funds, debt and equity instruments. This section will focus on pattern recognition, market timing models, forecasting and trading of financial time series. Section II provides insights into macro and microeconomics and how AI techniques could be used to better understand and predict economic variables. Section III focuses on corporate finance and credit analysis providing an insight into corporate structures and credit, and establishing a relationship between financial statement analysis and the influence of various financial scenarios. Section IV focuses on portfolio management, exploring applications for portfolio theory, asset allocation and optimization. This book also provides some of the latest research in the field of artificial intelligence and finance, and provides in-depth analysis and highly applicable tools and techniques for practitioners and researchers in this field.




The Handbook of Commodity Investing


Book Description

Filled with a comprehensive collection of information from experts in the commodity investment industry, this detailed guide shows readers how to successfully incorporate commodities into their portfolios. Created with both the professional and individual investor in mind, The Handbook of Commodity Investments covers a wide range of issues, including the risk and return of commodities, diversification benefits, risk management, macroeconomic determinants of commodity investments, and commodity trading advisors. Starting with the basics of commodity investments and moving to more complex topics, such as performance measurement, asset pricing, and value at risk, The Handbook of Commodity Investments is a reliable resource for anyone who needs to understand this dynamic market.