October 2015

After an initial rally in early October, BCOM finished the month down 0.5% as crude oil couldn’t sustain a rally over $50 and industrial metals continued to fall. BCOM is down 16.2% year-to-date after touching a 16-year low in August and headed for the fifth straight annual loss, the longest slide on records dating to 1991. Natural gas lead the 3.3% decline in the energy sector in October, collapsing 13.4% and erasing any positive price performance seen from WTI and Brent crude oil prices (up 2.6% and 1.2% respectively). Money managers increased their exposure to BCOM commodities by $16.6 billion in October. Exposure to sugar spiked by $2.4 billion in October and the bulls enjoyed a 12.7% rally, the biggest advance for sugar since 2013 amid a looming global shortage as weather poses a threat to production.