Commodity Speculation and Commodity Investment

Abstract

I distinguish between speculation and index-based investment in commodity futures stressing the differing motivations of the two groups and the differing instruments that they use. I discuss the amounts of money deployed in these activities. I document evidence of extrapolative behaviour in metals prices, consistent with speculation affecting prices, and show that in at least one market (soybeans) index-based investment has a significant and persistent price impact.Commodities, Speculation, Asset Allocation