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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, May 14, 2007– Managed futures bounced back from March losses with a 1.33% gain in April, according to The Barclay Group.
“Traders utilizing systems-based approaches did well in April, riding sustained trends in several of the major futures markets,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group.
“A strong rally in U.S. stock index futures, weakness in the Yen, and continued weakness in the US Dollar against the Euro, Sterling, and Canadian Dollar provided more than enough profits to offset losing trades in range-bound markets.”
The Barclay Diversified Traders Index gained 2.15% in April, Systematic Traders rose 1.91%, Currency Traders gained 1.00%, and the Financial and Metals Traders Index was up 1.00%.
Two CTA sectors lost ground in April. Agricultural Traders Index dropped 3.14%, and Discretionary Traders fell 0.57%.
“Agricultural traders faced several cross-currents in April, including a rally in wheat prices, a decline in soybeans, and a choppy corn market," says Waksman.
The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest CTAs, jumped 2.56% in April, and is now down 0.03% for the year.
The Barclay CTA Index is also in negative territory in 2007, down 0.78% through April.
Click here to view 27 years of Barclay CTA Index data.
View 21 years of monthly returns for the Barclay BTOP50 Index.
Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends.
Call 641-472-3456 or email sol@barclayhedge.com for more commentary or background.
The Barclay Group, founded in 1985, actively tracks more than 6,100 hedge funds and managed futures programs. Barclay has created and regularly updates 18 proprietary hedge fund indexes and eight managed futures indexes.
Institutional investors, brokerage firms and private banks worldwide utilize Barclay’s indexes as performance benchmarks for the hedge fund and managed futures industries.
