Jim Wiederhold is Associate Director of Commodities and Real Assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). He is responsible for the product management of the commodities and real assets indices, including the S&P GSCI, Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI), and S&P Real Assets Indices. These indices are designed to be leading measures of the commodities market and composite real assets.
Prior to joining S&P DJI, Jim worked as a commodities trader at FNY Investment Advisors, where he developed and executed trades in energy, metals, agriculture, and soft commodities futures and options markets. Previously, he worked as a trader and analyst at Argonaut Capital Management and as an associate of fixed income operations at Millennium Management.
Jim holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance (cum laude) from Marist College.Over the past decade, we witnessed the longest economic expansion in history. During that time, risk appetite spiked, elevated largely by deflated interest rates around the globe in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, as accommodative monetary policy lifted many investors up the risk curve. As in previous crisis periods, elevated risk asset valuations Read more […]
In our blog post from December 2019,[1] we highlighted the disparity seen last year between different sectors of the commodity futures and commodity equities markets. The second thing to watch highlighted the substantial 25% performance difference in 2019 between the S&P GSCI Energy and the S&P GSCI Equity Commodity Energy Index. However, so far in Read more […]
Crude oil is the most abundant and most traded commodity in the world, and it is one of the first places market participants look when seeking commodity exposure. Crude oil prices are also closely watched as investors try to glean clues about global economic growth; even after the collapse of oil prices in 2014, the Read more […]
It was a tough start to the year for commodities. The S&P GSCI ended the first month of 2020 down 10.8%, the largest month-over-month decline since November 2018. The outbreak of the coronavirus in China’s Hubei Province flustered most financial markets, and the commodities markets were hit particularly hard given the potential impact on global Read more […]
S&P Dow Jones Indices, the world’s leading index provider, launched the S&P GSCI Gold Dynamic Roll 70/30 Futures/Equity Blend in November 2019. It is the first single-commodity-focused futures/equities blended index of its kind in the gold market. In the current environment where investors are looking to diversify, this product is designed to provide a reliable Read more […]
In India, the festival of lights known as Diwali brings with it a seasonal uptick in gold imports. A feature of this renowned festival involves the exchange of gifts among friends, families, and colleagues. The most popular gift to give during the festival is gold. The propitious sentiment toward the precious metal makes it a Read more […]
Over the past five years, the S&P GSCI Coffee underperformed the other soft commodities, as can be seen in Exhibit 1. Broad oversupply issues that have been seen in most commodities have been particularly pronounced in the coffee market. In addition to the major coffee-producing countries’ respective economic problems, these countries also generally suffer from Read more […]
Several catalysts, including U.S. Corn Belt production issues, drove corn futures prices to a new five-year high in June 2019. Investors were net short corn in May 2019, and the short covering contributed to the break higher. Prices broke through the 2017 peak after heavy floods in the Midwest prevented farmers from planting corn in Read more […]
The S&P GSCI Iron Ore has been on a tear this year, up 72.47% YTD as of June 13, 2019, breaking through the previous high from May 22, 2019. It had by far the best YTD performance out of any of the commodities indices in the S&P GSCI Series. This bullish performance during the first Read more […]