Long-only commodity index funds have been blamed by other futures market participants for inflating commodity prices, increasing market volatility, and distorting historical price relationships. Much of this criticism is leveled without any formal empirical support or even cursory data analyses....

Recent accusations against speculators in general and long-only commodity index funds inparticular, include: increasing market volatility, distorting historical price relationships, andfueling a rapid increase and decrease in commodity inflation. Some researchers have argued thatthese market...

It is commonly asserted that speculative buying by index funds in commodity futures andover–the–counter derivatives markets created a ‘‘bubble’’ in commodity prices, with the resultthat prices, and crude oil prices, in particular, far exceeded fundamental values at the peak.The...

Starting from analyzing the use of goods, this paper discussed the Non-excludability and Non-rivalry characteristics of the goods in four assumed occasions based on different using methods and directions among users. It holds that Non-excludability and Non-rivalry are neither the objective...

New-classical paradigm public goods theory holds that non-exclusivity and non-competitiveness are the objective attributes of public goods. However, in reality, it is difficult to find a good which is strictly non-exclusive and non-competitive. Trading paradigm theory holds that the...

New-classical paradigm public goods theory holds that the Non-excludability and Non-rivalry are the objective attributes of public goods. However, in reality, it is difficult to find a good which is strictly Non-excludability and Non-rivalry. Trading paradigm theory holds that the...

This is a comprehensive study of the growth and impact of agricultural futures market traders. The growth of financial investment in commodities has introduced participants and raised both new questions and warranted revisiting old questions; these include the impact on commodity prices, the...

Agricultural risk managers need forecasts of price volatility that are accurate and meaningful. This is especially true given the greater emphasis on firm level risk measurement and management (e.g., Value-at-Risk and Enterprise Risk Management). Implied volatility is known to provide a readily...

Cash forward contracting is a common, and often preferred, means of managing price risk for agribusinesses. Despite this, little is known about the performance of cash forward markets, in particular the role they play in price discovery. The lumber market provides a unique case for examining...

California specialty crop growers are exposed to extreme price volatility, as well as considerable yield volatility caused by fluctuations in temperature, precipitation, and other specific weather events. Weather derivatives do provide a promising market-based solution to managing risks for...