Huh, never heard of them. I started long term commodity trading in 1985, often times going to the bank for another loan, LOL. gawd I was aweful learning how to trade long term futures, do anything long enough, you figure how to stop losing chunks and start making chunks, just takes forever of waiting. Trading is really like Jaws movie, you keep tossing out bait until you get that look, LOL.
Definitely my 401K and some commercial OTC energy hedges. In terms of how I trade now and what I teach clients I've had several Eurodollar spreads that lasted several months ( no rolls ) in duration and an ES vs NQ spread that I rolled twice before finally hitting my profit target. The GE spreads are like watching paint dry, but they trend really well and are cheap to margin and lever. I've never sold a top or bought a bottom in my life - I doubt that will ever change. I definitely need to see some confirmation before I commit to a trade.
I love the GE spreads, margins like nothing, just a slow drift and Eurodollars are super great, good volume next few years. I have day traded ES/NQ spread much more than overnight. I just couldn't find suitable trend trading back in the 80s that worked for me, so I went the other way, had nothing to do with ego, you actually have to love to lose when you trying to find highs/lows, but using right options and when to buy and or sell them to form hedge took years for me to refine, still refining, LOL.
Here's a Euribor butterfly that sets up very well on the long side for a good swing trade. Initial overnight margin should be between $500 - $800 for a 1-2-1. The scan margins have really been changing around as of late.
But trends like this can probably last longer than one would think, no? I mean gold, oil, copper, etc have all had many fairly long periods of below production costs. Also, I feel that most industries overinflate their cost of production estimates to help justify higher prices.