Commodities anyone?

[wildcat]

Aside from an occasional topic on oil, nobody has really mentioned diversified commodity investments much lately - PRCIX, etc. Do you still maintain a position or did you cut ties? Kind of curious to know.

 

[Brat]

Metals are trading up today on foreign markets. I purchased a SEAsia ETF with a mining company on it's short list.

Remember Brewer and others talking about bulk shipping and the huge demand. Much of this is raw material, commodity, transportation.

So.. in a nutshell, there are a couple ways to play this.

 

[JPatrick]

Aside from an occasional topic on oil, nobody has really mentioned diversified commodity investments much lately - PRCIX, etc. Do you still maintain a position or did you cut ties? Kind of curious to know.

Just oil and oil service for me right now mainly through Fido select funds and a couple of wild a$$ gambles----ABP & ENG.
How about water as a commodity. My water resource ETF is finally coming to life albeit only slightly---PHO.

 

[pedorrero]

Confucius didn't say (but should have): "Man who wager donkey often lose his ass." Take that as capsule advice on what'll happen to you if you try the commodity game. But heck, give it a shot, after all, you're better than most people right? ("Cognitive bias.")

 

[wildcat]

Uhhhhh ok. Actually, altough it can be debated (research backed), small investments in PCRIX can be/have been good diversifiers to an equity portfolio and are viable investment options. Thanks for the tip though

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

This is one of those areas that I suspect might have been a beneficial anti correlation tool and unexpected inflation offset before there were 947 ETF's and funds and a brazillion dollars worth of junior investors money involved...i'm not sure what the heck it is now, other than an expensive little rocket ship for gamblers and people who obviously know much more than I do...

 

[wildcat]

I suspect some short-term wash out but we could see a reversion to historical results eventually. I wouldn't count it out just yet.

 

[Olav23]

I'm still holding on tight to DJP. I rode it up from 46, so I'll have to wait until it is under at least 30 before I sell. (If all goes as my usual)

 

[Spanky]

I am still keeping PRCIX in my tax-deferred account -- only 2% of my portfolio.

 

[kumquat]

I think I have too much exposure to commodities:

corn/ethanol/ag via POT
uranium via CCO.TO
oil&gas via XIU.to

and a few small positions in other things. Being Canadian, our total market indexes are heavily weighted toward commodities. Am I going to change? Not yet.

 

[megacorp-firee]

I think I have too much exposure to commodities:

corn/ethanol/ag via POT
uranium via CCO.TO
oil&gas via XIU.to

and a few small positions in other things. Being Canadian, our total market indexes are heavily weighted toward commodities. Am I going to change? Not yet.

What was your total portfolio growth rate for 2006?

 

[lswswein]

I have 5% of the protfolio in PCRIX and DBC combined. I have been waiting for the commodidties to go down to see who would hold on.

-h

 

[mathjak107]

i keep 5% in gsg or dbc..... ill dabble in uso and gld at times also

 

[brewer12345]

I still think PCRIX and DJP are valuable tools in a diversified portfolio. Even if returns are more modest than they have been historically, the inflation protection is worth having.

 

[eytonxav]

I have a small amount of PCRIX and a fair amount of TIPS in my port, and therefore, wonder if I should switch to a different commodities related investment since PCRIX utilizes TIPS as well. Is DJP the best and most diversified commodity alternative?

 

[brewer12345]

DJP is better in taxable accounts. Other than that, it is very close to PCRIX. The main difference is that PCRIX uses TIPS as collateral and DJP uses t-bills.

 

[eytonxav]

Hi Brewer, My stuff is all in non-taxable accounts. Do you know the pro/cons of DBC vs DJP vs PCRIX? I am thinking of dumping my PCRIX and switching to one of the others since PCRIX uses TIPS as collateral and I already have a large TIPS allocation in my port. I also have PRNEX, PCL, and BGEIX in my "commodities related" allocation.

Thx,

DFW

 

[BUM]

I still hold PCRIX. No plans to sell it.

 

[brewer12345]

Hi Brewer, My stuff is all in non-taxable accounts. Do you know the pro/cons of DBC vs DJP vs PCRIX? I am thinking of dumping my PCRIX and switching to one of the others since PCRIX uses TIPS as collateral and I already have a large TIPS allocation in my port. I also have PRNEX, PCL, and BGEIX in my "commodities related" allocation.

Thx,

DFW

DBC is messy on taxes just like PCRIX. In a taxable account, DJP reigns supreme, assuming you are comfy with the credit exposure to Barclay's (Aa2 rated, IIRC).

 

[FinanceDude]

I use managed futures, which are basically a basket of commodities. My eyes were opened by the Yale Foundation.

However, I have NO MORE than 5% of my client's portfolios in them, and for most it's around 3%.........

 

[milmoose]

I have approximately 6% of my portfolio in DJP and I plan to increase it to nearly 15% over time.

Another 1% in Physical Commodities and 6% in a privately owned Timberland Partnership.

Not to pimp another board, but I recently wrote a lengthy post on the MSN Your Money board about the Managed Futures funds (PCRIX and DJP):
Message Boards: Your Money with Personal Finance columnist Liz Pulliam Weston - MSN Money

Would love to hear some educated opinions on the topic...

- M

 

[Cb]

Can't help you with an educated opinion on CCF's, but I still have ~10% in PCRIX.

In backtesting (using 'synthetic' historical data ) they appear to be the world's greatest diversifier. I've read numerous reasons why that might not persist, but I figure it's worth risking a ~10% stake from a well-diversified equity-heavy portfolio in the event that they do turn out to smooth the ride. If I were more confident I'd take a much larger position. Time will tell.

Cb O0

 

[kumquat]

I think I have too much exposure to commodities:

corn/ethanol/ag via POT
uranium via CCO.TO
oil&gas via XIU.to

and a few small positions in other things. Being Canadian, our total market indexes are heavily weighted toward commodities. Am I going to change? Not yet.

What was your total portfolio growth rate for 2006?

I don't calculate the numbers that close, but it was around 20% in a 70/30 portfolio.