We all know that commodities and the exchange traded funds (ETFs) and exchange traded notes (ETNs) that represent them have performed fairly well for the year, but are all commodities created equal?
Some commodities have performed a bit better than others in recent months. Now that inflation fears have been put on the back burner by the Federal Reserve, will the commodities that outperformed this year resume their uptrends anytime soon, or simply hold steady for the time being? No one knows, so watch the trend lines for signals.
If the prices continue to decline from this point, have an exit strategy in place to protect yourself. We watch for positions to decline 8% off their recent high or below their 200-day moving average.
TraderMark has identified the ten hottest commodities for the year and their corresponding ETFs (although in some cases, be aware that there’s more than one way to play these commodities). Be sure to understand which commodities hold what – some hold physical commodities, some hold futures and others hold the stock of companies involved in their production.
- Unleaded Gas, represented by the United States Gasoline Fund (UGA), up 68.3% year-to-date.
- Copper, which can be accessed through the PowerShares DB Base Metals Fund (DBB), 32.3% year-to-date
- Crude Oil, represented by the PowerShares Dynamic Oil Services (PXJ), up 23.2% year-to-date
- Orange Juice, which can be exposed through the Market Vectors Agribusiness (MOO), up 24.5% year-to-date
- Silver, which is represented by the iShares Silver Trust (SLV), up 23.3% year-to-date
- Sugar, which is seen in the iPath DJ AIG Sugar (SGG) up 32% year-to-date
- Coffee which can be accessed through the iPath DJ AIG Coffee (JO), up 6.4% year-to-date
- Soybeans, which comprises 25% of the assets of the PowerShares DB Agriculture (DBA) is down 0.4% year-to-date; exposure to both corn and wheat, two of the nation’s largest commodities can be accessed through DBA as well
- Heating Oil, which can be exposed through the United States Heating Oil Fund (UHN), up 22.2% year-to-date
- Nickel, which is represented through the iPath DJ AIG Nikel (JJN) up 31.5% year-to-date.
For more stories on commodities, visit our commodities category.
Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.