Indiana Grain Company, LLC

Posted: 10/08/12

By: tomgrisafi

According to the latest industry statistics, Hedge funds increased bullish bets on commodities for the first time in three weeks.

Why? If you haven't been paying attention, prices had dropped to a two-month low on signs of slowing Chinese growth and rising supplies of everything from crude oil to coffee.

"Money managers raised net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options by 0.2 percent to 1.24 million contracts in the week ended Oct. 2," Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. "They fell 6.6 percent in the previous two weeks. Silver wagers climbed to the highest in almost two years while bullish oil bets fell to a seven-week low. Gold holdings rose for a seventh week before prices reached an 11-month high."

Commodities have backed off to the tune of 4 percent since the Federal Reserve announced a third round of debt buying Sept. 13.

“It’s harder to put money on the table right now in commodities,” David Goerz, the chief investment officer at Highmark Capital Management Inc., tells Businessweek. “Commodities are increasingly focused on what’s happening in the fundamental economy, and China is a very big part of that. Overall, the real issue is whether the economy is able to strengthen.”