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Smart Money: The Forecasting Ability of CFTC Large Traders in Agricultural Futures Markets

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  • Sanders, Dwight R.
  • Irwin, Scott H.
  • Merrin, Robert P.

Abstract

The forecasting content of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Commitments of Traders (COT) report is investigated. Bivariate Granger causality tests show very little evidence that traders’ positions are useful in forecasting (leading) returns in 10 agricultural futures markets. However, there is substantial evidence that traders respond to price changes. In particular, noncommercial traders display a tendency for trend following. The other trader classifications display mixed styles, perhaps indicating those trader categories capture a variety of traders. The results generally do not support use of the COT data in predicting price movements in agricultural futures markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Sanders, Dwight R. & Irwin, Scott H. & Merrin, Robert P., 2009. "Smart Money: The Forecasting Ability of CFTC Large Traders in Agricultural Futures Markets," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 34(2), pages 1-21, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:jlaare:54547
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.54547
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicole M. Aulerich & Scott H. Irwin & Philip Garcia, 2014. "Bubbles, Food Prices, and Speculation: Evidence from the CFTC's Daily Large Trader Data Files," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Food Price Volatility, pages 211-253, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Hossfeld, Oliver & Röthig, Andreas, 2016. "Do speculative traders anticipate or follow USD/EUR exchange rate movements? New evidence on the efficiency of the EUR currency futures market," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 218-225.
    3. Ederer, Stefan & Heumesser, Christine & Staritz, Cornelia, 2013. "The role of fundamentals and financialisation in recent commodity price developments: An empirical analysis for wheat, coffee, cotton, and oil," Working Papers 42, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE).
    4. Goswami, Alankrita & Adjemian, Michael K. & Karali, Berna, 2022. "The impact of futures contract storage rate policy on convergence expectations in domestic commodity markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    5. Boyd, Naomi E. & Harris, Jeffrey H. & Li, Bingxin, 2018. "An update on speculation and financialization in commodity markets," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 10(C), pages 91-104.
    6. Stephanie-Carolin Grosche, 2014. "What Does Granger Causality Prove? A Critical Examination of the Interpretation of Granger Causality Results on Price Effects of Index Trading in Agricultural Commodity Markets," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 279-302, June.
    7. Chen, Haojun & Maher, Daniela, 2013. "On the predictive role of large futures trades for S&P500 index returns: An analysis of COT data as an informative trading signal," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 177-201.
    8. Dirk G. Baur & Lee A. Smales, 2022. "Trading behavior in bitcoin futures: Following the “smart money”," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(7), pages 1304-1323, July.
    9. Ordu, Beyza Mina & Oran, Adil & Soytas, Ugur, 2018. "Is food financialized? Yes, but only when liquidity is abundant," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 82-96.
    10. Chkir, Imed & Guesmi, Khaled & Brayek, Angham Ben & Naoui, Kamel, 2020. "Modelling the nonlinear relationship between oil prices, stock markets, and exchange rates in oil-exporting and oil-importing countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Scott H. Irwin & Dwight R. Sanders, 2011. "Index Funds, Financialization, and Commodity Futures Markets," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 33(1), pages 1-31.
    12. Dwight R. Sanders & Scott H. Irwin, 2010. "A speculative bubble in commodity futures prices? Cross‐sectional evidence," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(1), pages 25-32, January.
    13. Algieri, Bernardina, 2012. "Price Volatility, Speculation and Excessive Speculation in Commodity Markets: sheep or shepherd behaviour?," Discussion Papers 124390, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    14. Bernardina Algieri, 2014. "A roller coaster ride: an empirical investigation of the main drivers of the international wheat price," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(4), pages 459-475, July.
    15. Lee A. Smales, 2022. "Trading Behavior in Agricultural Commodity Futures around the 52-Week High," Commodities, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-15, June.
    16. Grosche, Stephanie, 2012. "Limitations of Granger Causality Analysis to assess the price effects from the financialization of agricultural commodity markets under bounded rationality," Discussion Papers 121868, University of Bonn, Institute for Food and Resource Economics.
    17. Dunbar, Kwamie & Owusu-Amoako, Johnson, 2023. "Predicting inflation expectations: A habit-based explanation under hedging," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    18. Dunbar, Kwamie & Owusu-Amoako, Johnson, 2023. "Predictability of crypto returns: The impact of trading behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    19. Xingguo Luo & Yuting Lin & Xiaoli Yu & Feng He, 2021. "How trading in commodity futures option markets impacts commodity futures prices," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(8), pages 1333-1347, August.
    20. Mutafoglu, Takvor H. & Tokat, Ekin & Tokat, Hakki A., 2012. "Forecasting precious metal price movements using trader positions," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 273-280.
    21. Algirdas Justinas Staugaitis & Bernardas Vaznonis, 2022. "Short-Term Speculation Effects on Agricultural Commodity Returns and Volatility in the European Market Prior to and during the Pandemic," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-26, April.
    22. Georg Lehecka, 2015. "Do hedging and speculative pressures drive commodity prices, or the other way round?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 575-603, September.
    23. Guillermo Llorente & Jiang Wang, 2020. "Trading and information in futures markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(8), pages 1231-1263, August.
    24. Haase, Marco & Seiler Zimmermann, Yvonne & Zimmermann, Heinz, 2016. "The impact of speculation on commodity futures markets – A review of the findings of 100 empirical studies," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 1-15.
    25. Marc J. M. Bohmann & David Michayluk & Vinay Patel, 2019. "Price discovery in commodity derivatives: Speculation or hedging?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(9), pages 1107-1121, September.

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    Agribusiness; Agricultural Finance;

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