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Commodity Index Fund
A commodity index fund is a fund whose assets are invested in financial instruments based on or linked to a commodity price index. In just about every case the index is in fact a commodity futures index. Funds that track indexes You cannot invest in an index, but you can invest in a fund. A Commodity Index Fund is a fund which either buys and sells futures to replicate the performance of the index, or sometimes enters into swaps with investment banks who themselves then trade the futures. The biggest and best known such fund is the Pimco Real Return Strategy Fund. There are many other funds, such as: * Oppenheimer * iShares S&P GSCI Commodity Indexes Fund *Barclays *JP Morgan (1994) These are very different from, and should not be confused with, commodity funds that hold real assets (oil refineries, farms, forests etc.) such as: * Chase Physical Commodity Index *Bear Stearns Harper's article A 2010 article in Harper's by Frederick Kaufman alleged that these Commodity Index f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commodity Price Index
A commodity price index is a fixed-weight index or (weighted) average of selected commodity prices, which may be based on spot or futures prices. It is designed to be representative of the broad commodity asset class or a specific subset of commodities, such as energy or metals. It is an index that tracks a basket of commodities to measure their performance. They are similar to stock market indices but track the price of a basket of specific commodities. These indexes are often traded on exchanges, allowing investors to gain easier access to commodities without having to enter the futures market. The value of these indexes fluctuates based on their underlying commodities, and this value can be traded on an exchange in much the same way as stock index futures. Investors can choose to obtain a passive exposure to these commodity price indices through a total return swap or a commodity index fund. The advantages of a passive commodity index exposure include negative correlation with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commodity Futures
In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The item transacted is usually a commodity or financial instrument. The predetermined price of the contract is known as the ''forward price'' or ''delivery price''. The specified time in the future when delivery and payment occur is known as the ''delivery date''. Because it derives its value from the value of the underlying asset, a futures contract is a derivative. Contracts are traded at futures exchanges, which act as a marketplace between buyers and sellers. The buyer of a contract is said to be the long position holder and the selling party is said to be the short position holder. As both parties risk their counter-party reneging if the price goes against them, the contract may involve both parties lodging as security a margin of the value of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, also known as MassMutual, is a Springfield, Massachusetts-based life insurance company. MassMutual provides financial products such as life insurance, Disability insurance, disability income insurance, Long-term care insurance, long term care insurance, and annuities. Major affiliate includes Baring Asset Management, Barings LLC. MassMutual ranks at 100 in the 2022 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. The company has revenues of $10.7 billion and assets under management of $312 billion (as of 2022). The company employs more than 7,000 in the United States, and a total of 10,614 internationally. History Origins Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) began operation on May 15, 1851 in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was founded by George W. Rice (businessman), George W. Rice, who subscribed for a guarantee capital of $100,000. As an insurance agent who sold policies for Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IShares S&P GSCI Commodity Indexes Fund
iShares is a collection of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and index mutual funds managed by BlackRock, which acquired the brand and business from Barclays in 2009. The first iShares ETFs were known as World Equity Benchmark Shares (WEBS) but have since been rebranded. Most iShares funds track a bond or stock market index, although some are actively managed. Stock exchanges listing iShares funds include the London Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, BATS Exchange, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Mexican Stock Exchange, Toronto Stock Exchange, Australian Securities Exchange, B3 (stock exchange), and a number of European and Asian stock exchanges. iShares is the largest issuer of ETFs in the US and globally, and also manages index mutual funds. History In 1993, State Street, in cooperation with American Stock Exchange, launched Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts () (now the 'SPDR S&P 500'), which was traded in real time and tracked the S&P 500 ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barclays
Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces its origins to the goldsmith banking business established in the City of London in 1690. James Barclay became a partner in the business in 1736. In 1896, twelve banks in London and the English provinces, including Goslings Bank, Backhouse's Bank and Gurney, Peckover and Company, united as a joint-stock bank under the name Barclays and Co. Over the following decades, Barclays expanded to become a nationwide bank. In 1967, Barclays deployed the world's first cash dispenser. Barclays has made numerous corporate acquisitions, including of London, Provincial and South Western Bank in 1918, British Linen Bank in 1919, Mercantile Credit in 1975, the Woolwich in 2000 and the North American operations of Lehman Brothers i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
JP Morgan
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's largest bank by market capitalization as of 2024. As the largest of the Big Four banks in America, the firm is considered systemically important by the Financial Stability Board. Its size and scale have often led to enhanced regulatory oversight as well as the maintenance of an internal "Fortress Balance Sheet". The firm is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan and is set return to its former location at the new under-construction JPMorgan Chase Building at 270 Park Avenue in November 2025. JPMorgan Chase was created in 2000 by the merger of New York City banks J.P. Morgan & Co. and Chase Manhattan Company. Through its predecessors, the firm's early history can be traced to 1799, with the founding of what became the Bank of the Manhattan Company. J.P. Morg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chase (bank)
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and financial services holding company, JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000. Chase Manhattan Bank was formed by the merger of the Chase National Bank and the Manhattan Company in 1955. The bank merged with Chemical Bank New York in 1996 and later merged with Bank One Corporation in 2004 and in 2008 acquired the deposits and most assets of Washington Mutual. In May 2023, it acquired the assets of First Republic Bank. Chase offers more than 4,701 branches and 15,000 ATMs nationwide and has 18.5 million checking accounts and 25 million debit card users as of 2023. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has 250,355 employees (as of 2016) and operates in more than 100 countries. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had assets of $3.3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bear Stearns
The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The company's main business areas before its failure were capital markets, investment banking, wealth management, and global clearing services, and it was heavily involved in the subprime mortgage crisis. In the years leading up to the failure, Bear Stearns was heavily involved in securitization and issued large amounts of asset-backed securities which were, in the case of mortgages, pioneered by Lewis Ranieri, "the father of mortgage securities." As investor losses mounted in those markets in 2006 and 2007, the company actually increased its exposure, especially to the mortgage-backed assets that were central to the subprime mortgage crisis. In March 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York provided an emergency loan to try ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago Mercantile Exchange
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) (often called "the Chicago Merc", or "the Merc") is an American derivatives marketplace based in Chicago and located at 20 S. Wacker Drive. The CME was founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board, an agricultural commodities exchange. For most of its history, the exchange was in the then common form of a non-profit organization, owned by members of the exchange. The Merc demutualized in November 2000, went public in December 2002, and merged with the Chicago Board of Trade in July 2007 to become a designated contract market of the CME Group Inc., which operates both markets. The chairman and chief executive officer of CME Group is Terrence A. Duffy, Bryan Durkin is president. On August 18, 2008, shareholders approved a merger with the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX are now markets owned by CME Group. After the merger, the value of the CME quadrupled in a two-year span, with a ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leah McGrath Goodman
Leah McGrath Goodman is an American author and freelance journalist who has worked in New York City and London. She began her career as a special writer and editor for ''The Wall Street Journal'', Dow Jones Newswires, and ''Barron's'', and was recruited from university by the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund. She has contributed to publications and agencies such as ''Fortune'', ''The Financial Times'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', '' Condé Nast Portfolio'', the Associated Press, ''Forbes'' and ''The Guardian''. In 2010 McGrath Goodman was the recipient of a Scripps Howard Foundation fellowship in environmental journalism and a visiting professorship at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her first book ''The Asylum: The Renegades Who Hijacked the World's Oil Market'', about the global oil trading market, was published in 2011. In 2014, a ''Newsweek'' cover story where she allegedly uncovered the identity of bitcoin's inventor attracted widespread controversy. In 2016, McGrath Goodm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Futures Industry Association
The Futures Industry Association (FIA) is a prominent global trade organization that represents the interests of the futures, options, and derivatives markets, including futures commission merchants A commodity broker is a firm or an individual who executes orders to buy or sell commodity contracts on behalf of the clients and charges them a commission. A firm or individual who trades for his own account is called a trader. Commodity contra ... and principal traders. Founded in 1955, the FIA has played a crucial role in shaping the futures industry, advocating for market participants, and fostering the growth of these markets worldwide. With a diverse membership comprising exchanges, clearinghouses, trading firms, banks, and other industry stakeholders, the FIA acts as a unified voice for the futures industry. Walt Lukken is the president and CEO of the FIA, having succeeded John Damgard in 2012. Mission and Objectives The primary mission of the Futures Industry Association ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the complexity of stabilization policy. With George Stigler, Friedman was among the intellectual leaders of the Chicago school of economics, a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the faculty at the University of Chicago that rejected Keynesianism in favor of monetarism before shifting their focus to new classical macroeconomics in the mid-1970s. Several students, young professors and academics who were recruited or mentored by Friedman at Chicago went on to become leading economists, including Gary Becker, Robert Fogel, and Robert Lucas Jr. Friedman's challenges to what he called "naive Keynesian theory" began with his interpretation of consumption, which tracks how consumers spend. He introduced a theory w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
