Managed Futures Education Center

George Painter Issue Casts Unfair Shadow on Industry Investor Protections as a Whole

A blistering yet technically accurate Washington Post article points to significant issues with one of the administrative law judges at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), one of two regulatory bodies that police the futures and options industry. Essentially retiring administrative law judge George Painter is claiming fellow judge Bruce Levine is bias in his [...]

Video Interview With Todd Wood Hits Hot Managed Futures Topics

This wide-ranging interview touches on many of the raw disclosures in the book and tackles some of the most interesting issues in our industry today.  The interview is conducted by Todd Wood, who wrote the excellent white paper “Beating Warren Buffett.”  At close to 22 minutes, its a long interview but it was fun and [...]

It Takes Someone From the Commodity Industry to Tell The Naked Truth

If you haven’t seen it, this insightful video, said to be created by a former commodity industry participant, is amazing. The honest, blunt critique of the current economic disclosure coming from the New York / DC Axis of Evil is making the e-mail rounds throughout the industry earlier this month, and it is an absolute [...]

Economic Uncertainty Highlights Unusual Discussion

“Business is highly uncertain in a way I have never seen before,” the former Fed Chairman said, appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press. Action to tackle our fiscal problems will be required, the Chairman observed, “The only question is, is it before or after a bond market crisis?”

People will look back on history and ask: “Why didn’t we do something when we had choices?” McLean clearly observed for history to record. “Our problems are not calculus, they are not algebra, it is simple arithmetic – we are spending three dollars for every two dollars we take in,” she noted with righteous alarm that comes from realizing that a fundamental message that will impact the future was being generally ignored.

And here, when we start to talk about a bond market crisis, is where it gets interesting – as conversations of the potential for a future debt crisis move firmly into the public realm.

Are “Safe” Alternatives Right For Your Client?

Managed futures “are wonderful,” Wedel says. Most investors (and their advisors) are too spooked by volatility fears to invest directly in commodities, but Wedel points out that his clients’ money is with experienced and disciplined managers who diversify across many categories and that the investments give his clients global exposure. “It allows a typical retail investor to invest in oil, gold, currencies and so on without having the tremendous knowledge it takes to do so,” he says.

Full Version: A candid conversation with a financial adviser about managed futures

Full version of the interview with John Kostic, a financial adviser with Helix Wealth Management in Newport Beach, California. CONTENT DISCLOSUREThis web site and related communication substantially represent the opinions of the author and are not reflective of the opinions of any exchange, regulatory body, trading firm or brokerage firm. The opinions of the author [...]

industry updates: Is the CTA Expo a benchmark event? Observations from talking with the Equity World; Embracing the Industry of Investor Protections for a practical reason

Is the CTA EXPO a Benchmark Event? This article is divided into two sections: The first gives a backdrop to understand why the CTA Expo may be an industry benchmark event, the second half discusses what actually took place at the well attended, organized event. . . . [Content protected for Premium members only. Click [...]

NY Times Article Highlights lack of understanding on Wall Street

“In C.F.T.C. Is Set to Get Tougher on Fraud, the generally well written New York Times Dealbook article, started with a note that is really more telling about Wall Street’s lack of understanding regarding managed futures and the commodities industry than it is a comment about the C.F.T.C.”

“The issue is the Wall Street establishment didn’t give it proper notice – and a sleeping U.S. Congress was prone to nod off at the very mention of anything to do with the “commodity” industry — all while the very underpinnings of the U.S. economy were crumbling. Just because those deep in financial services and political policy overlooked this monumental bark – that does not mean the “bark” was not loud. The bark was in fact very loud, consistent and to some in New York and Washington, annoying – the problem is the soft spoken female commodity regulator’s bark could not be properly heard in the right Wall Street chambers or in a certain district generally controlled by Wall Street’s interests. There is a difference between a loud bark and a loud bark that is ignored.”

Former Yale University Dean Weighs in on the Book High-Performance Managed Futures and Need for Uncorrelated Investments

“Mark H. Melin’s High-Performance Managed Futures: The New Way to Diversify Your Portfolio (Wiley, 2010) goes far beyond the standard asset allocation book. It not only makes the case for managed futures but does so from the perspective of risk. It is thorough and well documented, yet at the same time eminently practical. Both high net worth individual investors and financial advisors could profit from it.”

The Debt Crisis and Uncorrelated Investing — Needed Now More than Ever

Some risks in managed futures (left) should be more clearly disclosed. This video raises important issues in managed futures: Is standard deviation a relevant measure of risk? Does a correlation matrix tell the whole story in managed futures? What are the hidden risks in managed futures?

One simple question asked of financial advisers

The presentation was so logical and well researched; the audience of intelligent advisers understood the situation: In this debt ridden economic environment with always unpredictable world events upon us, no one knows what the future is going to hold. Investors have a right to be given the choice to have an equity neutral investing option, a new concept for many financial advisers. These advisers, many familiar with managed futures to a limited degree, knew the faults in the “risk” argument so often cited by unknowledgeable advisers as their first line of defense when they sell an investor on diversification with the stock market, a “diversification” concept to which Nobel Prize winners have said is impossible.