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Hi,
I am a long term investor holding long positions for months to years.
In February 2009, I bought a future CME MINY Crude Oil at around USD 45.5.
Since February 2009, I rolled my future position several times (selling back the maturing contract and buying the next monthly / quarterly maturity) in order for me to keep my long position over the long term.
Today's price is around USD 77.8 and in theory that would give a P&L of about USD500(77.8-45.5) = USD 16,150.
In reality, my P&L is only around USD 11,200.
Most of the difference between 16,150 and 11,200 is due to the fact I had to roll contracts from one maturity to another, i.e selling back the contract arriving at maturity at a cheaper price than the new contract I was buying. That is because the farer the maturity, the more expensive is the contract and therefore each time I roll, I am "losing" money or more precisely, I am making less money than I should have made, because the price is jumping up for each new maturity.
How can a long term investor keep a long positon in WTI Crude Oil without the disadvantage of losing money each time he is rolling contracts?
I decided to trade WTI Crude Oil using CME MINY futures because futures are a liquid instrument, there is a clearing house, the futures spreads are low and the commissions are low. However the cost or rolling the positions over the long term is ridiculously high!
Is there a more efficient way to invest long term?
Spead betting is out of question because spread betting companies charge an overnight interest rate each time you carry a long postion overnight and in the long term the cost can be very high.
Trackers / ETFs are issued by banks and there is no clearing house, therefore if the bank goes bust, I lose all my money.
So how should I invest, what investment vehicle should I use?
Thank you.
I am a long term investor holding long positions for months to years.
In February 2009, I bought a future CME MINY Crude Oil at around USD 45.5.
Since February 2009, I rolled my future position several times (selling back the maturing contract and buying the next monthly / quarterly maturity) in order for me to keep my long position over the long term.
Today's price is around USD 77.8 and in theory that would give a P&L of about USD500(77.8-45.5) = USD 16,150.
In reality, my P&L is only around USD 11,200.
Most of the difference between 16,150 and 11,200 is due to the fact I had to roll contracts from one maturity to another, i.e selling back the contract arriving at maturity at a cheaper price than the new contract I was buying. That is because the farer the maturity, the more expensive is the contract and therefore each time I roll, I am "losing" money or more precisely, I am making less money than I should have made, because the price is jumping up for each new maturity.
How can a long term investor keep a long positon in WTI Crude Oil without the disadvantage of losing money each time he is rolling contracts?
I decided to trade WTI Crude Oil using CME MINY futures because futures are a liquid instrument, there is a clearing house, the futures spreads are low and the commissions are low. However the cost or rolling the positions over the long term is ridiculously high!
Is there a more efficient way to invest long term?
Spead betting is out of question because spread betting companies charge an overnight interest rate each time you carry a long postion overnight and in the long term the cost can be very high.
Trackers / ETFs are issued by banks and there is no clearing house, therefore if the bank goes bust, I lose all my money.
So how should I invest, what investment vehicle should I use?
Thank you.
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