D-FENCE! Investigating Commodity Performance under a Defensive Fed
I love this time of year. August vacations are over, the kids are back in school and football season kicks off in the U.S. The Fed took its August “vacation” at the Jackson Hole Symposium, where Jerome Powell’s remarks singularly focused on price stability. Inflation has come down but “remains too high” and the Fed…
- Categories Commodities
- Tags 2023, commodities, Fed Funds Rate, inflation, S&P GSCI
- Categories
- Commodities
Hot Temperatures and a Hot Start to the Second Half of 2023 for Commodities
The S&P GSCI, the broad commodities benchmark, started the second half of the year in a blistering heat wave and rose 11% on the back of petroleum commodities, which all increased by more than 14% in July. The remaining four sectors within the S&P GSCI also rose during the month, as fears of a recession…
S&P GSCI Mid-Year Recap and Lithium Added to S&P GSCI Electric Vehicle Metals Index
Surging futures activity on CME Group’s lithium contract allowed for entry into the S&P GSCI Electric Vehicle (EV) Metals Index. This milestone reflects the changing nature of indices to maintain a representative share of the global commodities market. The largest and most recognizable benchmark for commodities, the S&P GSCI, reviews contract eligibility for existing and…
- Categories Commodities, Thematics
- Tags agriculture, Brian Luke, cattle, cobalt, cocoa, commodities, crude oil futures, energy, energy transition, iron ore, lean hogs, lithium, livestock, metals, natural gas, nickel, real assets, S&P GSCI, S&P GSCI Electric Vehicle Metals Index, sugar, sustainability, thematics
- Categories
- Commodities, Thematics
Sustainability within the Modern Commodity Allocation – The S&P GSCI Light Energy Climate Aware Is Launched
After extensive market outreach, S&P Dow Jones Indices launched the S&P GSCI Light Energy Climate Aware to satisfy a need for a benchmark tied to sustainability and the energy transition, but with a lighter energy weighting than the new S&P GSCI Climate Aware. As can be seen in Exhibit 1, the S&P GSCI Light Energy…
Hedging Debt Ceiling Drama with the S&P GSCI SOFR and S&P GSCI Gold
The debt ceiling debate in Washington appears to be nearing an end. According to the U.S. Treasury, Congress has “always acted when called upon” and markets will look for them to do so for the 79th time this month. By index rule, all commodities in the S&P GSCI are traded in U.S. dollars, so the…
The S&P GSCI Cooled in April as Inflation Cooled
The S&P GSCI fell 0.8% in April as the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), fell slightly on a year-over-year basis to 4.6%. Continued elevated readings of inflation, albeit cooling, led to market expectations that the Fed would hike rates again in May to bring inflation back to its 2% target. Commodities…
- Categories Commodities
- Tags agriculture, commodities, copper, energy, gold, grains, industrial metals, inflation, S&P GSCI, S&P GSCI Agriculture, S&P GSCI Climate Aware, S&P GSCI Copper, S&P GSCI Grains, S&P GSCI Industrial Metals, S&P GSCI Softs, S&P GSCI Sugar, S&P GSCI Zinc, soft commodities, sugar, Zinc
- Categories
- Commodities
Breakfast – The Most Important Meal of the Day
The first quarter of 2023 was a slow start to the year for commodities in general. The S&P GSCI Dynamic Roll Breakfast (OJ 5% Capped) also had a slow start, down 3.1%, after a solid 2022 performance of 14.12%. Maybe a higher weight to coffee would give the index the caffeine kick needed to boost…
The “Devil’s Metal” Vanishes, Precious Metals Shine and Energy Dims: Commodities Quarterly Wrap
“Jamie ran on down to the LME, but the devil caught him there, He took Mr. Dimon’s Nickel bags and vanished in the air, Set out running but I’ll take my time, A friend of the devil is a friend of mine” -adaptation of Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” Just one year after the…
Indexing Bond and Commodity Markets in the World of the Upside Down
In the 80s nostalgia Netflix hit series “Stranger Things,” the town of Hawkins is haunted by an alternate world beneath. The protagonists battle monsters in what they call the upside down. For the first few seasons, the upside down wreaks havoc on just a few residents of Hawkins. By the last season, no one is…
Will the S&P GSCI Electric Vehicle Metals Outperform with Copper Leading the Way?
Recent bullish fundamentals appear to be falling in line for the electric vehicle metals space. A decade of weak metals prices has led to underinvestment by miners and refiners, as private investment and bank financing support waned. In 2022, S&P Global released a comprehensive report on copper outlining the current trending Rocky Road supply scenario…
