A Smart-Beta Commodity Portfolio For Those Looking To Hedge Against $2T+ In Money Printing

Mar. 23, 2020 12:46 PM ET, , , , , , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments
Harrison Schwartz
16.38K Followers

Summary

  • The commodity market has stellar long-term bullish factors but has been overrun by extreme short-term bearish factors.
  • With monetary stimulus reaching an extreme and stagflationary forces building, I believe commodities will outperform stocks and bonds over the coming months and years.
  • Most commodity funds are overly exposed to crude oil, I propose a beta-weighting system that offers far lower volatility geared to boost alpha.
  • This capitalizes on commodities that are beaten-down compared to peers like silver, soybeans, and natural gas.
  • If you're looking to buy-the-dip, commodities have less potential downside than do stocks due to production-cost limitations.

(Wiki Commons)

The commodity market has been hit extremely hard by the ongoing market decline. Much of these recent declines can be traced back to the energy market as explained in "Analyzing The Collapse Of OPEC+". Inflation expectations have collapsed and brought down commodity prices with them.

This is seen below through the Treasury inflation-breakeven rate vs. the Invesco Commodity ETF (DBC):

While short-term deflation is likely due to an expected cliff-edge drop in demand (since many are not leaving their houses), the virus may actually usher in the era of inflation that I've been expecting.

The Federal Reserve has already cut rates to zero and has agreed to pursue aggressive quantitative easing. The Federal Government is looking to give out massive amounts of "helicopter money" via paid-sick leave and possibly $1000 checks. There is also already a shortage of healthcare and grocery products which has spurred price increases in many parts of the country.

The U.S is also, by far, the world's largest exporter of food. Because of the Coronavirus, it has largely gone unknown by the public, but there is a massive locust swarm plaguing Africa and the Middle East which will drastically reduce food-supply in those regions. It is believed that this swam is the largest in (at least) over three decades. China is also struggling with a food shortage due to last year's ASF crisis and production impacts relating to the Coronavirus. I believe this will import some serious inflation into the U.S as food exports rise to offset these shortages.

The fact is that there are a ton of deflationary and inflationary forces impacting the markets today. In other words, both demand and supply are falling so the resulting price-action is unclear. That said, the deflationary forces like mass global "burrowing" and oil production overproduction are short-term in

Interested In My More-Exclusive Research?

My fellow contributor BOOX research and I run the Core-Satellite Dossier here on Seeking Alpha. The marketplace service provides an array of in-depth portfolios designed using the academically-backed Core-Satellite approach. This involves creating a base long-term portfolio (the core) and generating alpha using unique well-researched tactical trades (the satellite). 

As an added benefit, we're allowing each new member one exclusive pick where they can have us provide in-depth research on any company or ETF they'd like. You can learn about what we can do for you here

This article was written by

16.38K Followers
Harrison is a financial analyst who has been writing on Seeking Alpha since 2018 and has closely followed the market for over a decade. He has professional experience in the private equity, real estate, and economic research industry. Harrison also has an academic background in financial econometrics, economic forecasting, and global monetary economics.

Analyst’s Disclosure:I am/we are long CORN, SLV, PPLT, USO, UNG. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Recommended For You

Related Stocks

SymbolLast Price% Chg
CANE--
Teucrium Sugar Fund ETF
DBB--
Invesco DB Base Metals Fund ETF
DBC--
Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund ETF
GLD--
SPDR® Gold Shares ETF
GSG--
iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust ETF

Related Analysis