S&P Managed Futures Index is down almost 10 % on the year and April seems to be a horrible month again http://www2.standardandpoors.com/se...e/IndicesIndexPg&r=1&l=EN&b=4&s=132&xcd=HEDGE What is it with April that it is so bad ? I think even though Managed Futures Funds decrease their positions when they loose, they might not decrease their absolute contract sizes this time because more and more money comes into Managed Futures Funds and Hedge Funds. Investors just want to invest , no matter what. I can read next years headlines already: "Managed Futures had a horrible 2005" Then maybe investors wake up and finally realize that Managed Futures is not another "asset class" like Bonds and Stocks.
http://www2.standardandpoors.com/se...e/IndicesIndexPg&r=1&l=EN&b=4&s=132&xcd=HEDGE now more than 11 % - amazing
look - http://www.iasg.com/SnapshotPT.asp?ID=54 perfect head & shoulders pattern, they should short themselves
It is an asset class - one that can provide valuable diversification to a portfolio. Just like stocks and bonds, representative indexes have good years and bad years. An investor also needs to pick and choose managed futures funds on an individual basis, just like stocks or bonds.
Managed Futures are neither good nor bad. As an "asset class", they're just a market vehicle. It all depends upon the manager. After all, they're nothing more than a derivative of their underlying issues.
Most MMs of all stripe have a long side bias. April was down for underlying markets, so MM performance was down. Likely has nothing to do with whether it was "April" or "Managed Futures".
An alternative view/ site: http://www.barclaygrp.com/index.html Q Snapshot of Barclay Databases As of April-16-2005 11:20 US CST/ Managed Futures/ Hedge Funds Average ROR/ 0.02%/ -0.67% Highest ROR/ 48.65%/ 24.60% Median ROR/ 0.03%/ -0.37% Lowest ROR/ -38.4%/ -19.69% UQ