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Commentary provided by Chad Burlet of Third Street AG Investments By recent standards, January was a relatively quiet month for agricultural futures. Volatility trended lower for corn, wheat, and soybeans, and their monthly trading ranges were near the lowest of the past year. The top three global issues were the same as last month: 1) dryness in […]

Investors flock to high Sharpe ratio managers on sites like IASG.com for a good reason. They display an uncanny ability to put up positive numbers almost every month. Option sellers seem to do this better than anyone, and they stand out when looking through hundreds of managers. If this one marker told the whole story, […]

All economies go through fairly predictable patterns as they go through a business cycle. In simple terms, we go from expansion to peak, contraction, and trough. The depths of this drop vary based on both predictable and unpredictable factors. Let us look at some quantifiable factors as well as some wild cards that can impact […]

With the crude oil markets now trading well below where it was before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, observers may be forgiven for thinking that the consumer has won, meaning the producer has lost. Higher pump prices and the consumer’s weaker purchasing power certainly held back demand growth to only +1.85 million barrels per day […]

Commentary provided by David Zelinski of Opus Futures. Happy New Year to all! I’m excited to get off to a great start in 2023, but before discussing the outlook, I want to spend a quick minute discussing 2022. Our program was off to a strong start in the first half of 2022, but profits were harder […]

The English expression “May you live in interesting times” is claimed to be based on an ironic Chinese curse as most of us would prefer to live fairly peacefully. While some variety is nice, this year, it felt a bit more like the perfect storm of calamity. We covered many events throughout the year, but […]

Commentary provided by David Zelinski of Opus Futures. I struck a bullish tone toward corn and soybean markets in last month’s commentary. Part of the bullishness was due to the recent (at that time) news of a breakdown in the Ukraine export corridor. We now know that the Russians backed down very quickly from their harsh […]

Commentary provided by David Zelinski of Opus Futures. In last month’s commentary, we reviewed various data points indicating that inflation is starting to roll over. While inflation readings are sure to remain elevated for several more months, the worst is clearly behind us, and the more pressing concern going forward could be slowing economic demand. Nothing […]

Years of investment marketing tell us that a fund’s expense ratio is the most important characteristic we should look for in our asset selection. So, it is unsurprising that the first question I often get is, “How do you get paid if I open an account with you?” The question I get less often is, […]

Commentary provided by Chad Burlet of Third Street AG Investments With the arrival of winter in the northern hemisphere, a majority of market observers have turned their attention toward the production prospects in the southern hemisphere, where Brazil, Argentina, and Australia dominate. Australia’s leading crop is wheat, and they are on track to produce their third large […]

Inflation fell according to the last CPI (Consumer Price Index) report in the United States, setting off a furious 5% rally in equities as Fed policy finally takes hold. However, according to Forbes, prices increased 0.4% month over month, bringing the rate down to 7.7% on an annualized basis, which they believe is reason to […]

Want access to some of the largest programs in the world at a lower entry point? Typically, investment options come through either a separately managed account with high minimums or a fund product with limited liquidity and less flexibility than a standard futures account. A managed account platform bridges this gap by offering increased liquidity, […]