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FAIRFIELD, Iowa, October 9, 2006 - Managed Futures lost 0.23% in September, according to flash estimates for the Barclay CTA Index, giving back their 0.19% August gain.
"The damage in September was largely the result of difficult currency markets," says Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group. "The US dollar started the month by gaining ground against G7 currencies, then weakened during mid-month and rallied again at month-end. Continued price declines in the energy and precious metals sectors made for another difficult month for long-only commodity indexes."
Seven of Barclay's eight CTA indexes lost ground in September. Currency Traders fell 0.95 % after gaining 0.52% in August. Financial and Metals was down 0.21%, and Discretionary Traders lost 0.01%.
The only profitable index in September was Agricultural Traders, which gained 0.09% for the month.
"With the exception of corn prices, grain markets were fairly quiet during the month," says Waksman. "Corn prices rallied through September and provided profit opportunity in an otherwise directionless market."
The Barclay BTOP50 Index lost 0.10% in September, but remains up 0.31% YTD. The BTOP50 monitors performance of the largest CTA's.
Through the first three quarters of 2006, the Discretionary Traders Index is up 2.19%, and Diversified Traders has gained 1.79%. The Barclay CTA Index is up 0.63% for the year. Barclay's other CTA indexes have losses of 0.03% to 1.80%.
Click here to view 27 years of Barclay CTA Index data.
Sol Waksman is an experienced media source, providing perspectives on hedge fund and managed futures trends. Call 641-472-3456 or email sol@barclaygrp.com for more commentary or background.
The Barclay Group, founded in 1985, actively tracks more than 5,800 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.
