Do expected asset returns vary through time? Why do some assets exhibit higher average returns than others? How can factors that drive expected returns in the time series be linked to factors that explain the cross-sectional dispersion in average returns? How do these findings affect...

We find out-of-sample predictability of commodity futures excess returns using forecast combinations of 28 potential predictors. Such gains in forecast accuracy translate into economically significant improvements in certainty equivalent returns and Sharpe ratios for a mean-variance investor....