Tuesday, March 1, 2011

February Recap for Markets

February saw rising stock prices, slightly lower bond prices -- and mixed results for managed futures programs. The Middle East unrest created volatility in the energy markets.  This resulted in both winning and losing trades in the energy sector, with net profits for the month in crude oil trades.

Our zFutures Diversified Program, tracked at Collective2, was slightly higher at +0.5%, while the z-Trader Short-Term Program registered a +10.6% gain.  

The zFutures Diversified Program can be carved into two main sectors (Financials & Commodities).  The z-Trader Financials Program gained +4.7% with profits in the currencies, bonds, and precious metals.  These gains, however, were offset by losses in the z-Trader Commodities Program (with the grains and softs being the main culprits), leading to a drop of -8.3%.  The Financials & Commodities Program offer good diversification to one another -- and together, will approximate the Diversified Program, at higher leverage (but offer the benefit of a lower account size). 

The z-Trader Short-Term Program rode the S&P to fairly steady gains during the month.

AN INVESTMENT IN FUTURES CAN RESULT IN LOSSES.
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.
ALL RESULTS MUST BE CONSIDERED HYPOTHETICAL RESULTS, WITH MANY INHERENT LIMITATIONS.

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