If you think a bag of onions trading at a price cheaper than the bag itself is crazy, how about oil prices on April 20, 2020, at negative $40.32/bbl? Negative oil prices were observed for the first time in history over our StockTrak performance period from March 6 to May 1. Alternative Assets & StockTrak. There is a new link I posted to a 16-minute podcast about the Onion King for you to learn about one of the most infamous "villains" in commodity market history. Which statement about the Onion King is most likely FALSE? a) Vincent Kosuga profited when the supply of onions exceeded the demand for onions b) Vincent Kosuga testified in front of federal regulators because of market manipulation allegations c) can be d) Today, commodity traders' greater access to information (e.g. on inventory levels) makes entering a commodity market easier than ever, thus creating a need for increased regulation. 7 Alternative Assets & StockTrak. The EIA, which releases oil inventory data every Wednesday, attempts to explain what happened in a link I posted to Canvas. Which of the following statements is most likely FALSE? a) Near contract maturity, oil futures contracts can involve physical delivery or can be rolled over to other contracts b) US consumption of oil and petroleum products has declined sharply due to COVID-19 c) Cushing, Oklahoma, is the primary location in the US where physical delivery of oil takes place d) The EIA indicates levels are 30% below capacity, so there is plenty of uncommitted storage available e) Oil futures markets are currently in steep contango. Alternative Assets & StockTrak. The EIA missed something. Read the Caveat Emptor link I posted to Canvas about USO! Be careful what you are buying, especially when it comes to exotic ETFs, and especially when it comes to real-life investing i.e. not StockTrak. Which of the following statements is most likely FALSE? a) USO's IPS does not allow for physical delivery of oil, thus the fund needs to roll contracts forward every month b) USO had accumulated 20% of all May 2020 futures contracts on oil prior to the price collapse on April 20th c) The popularity of USO with retail investors was partially to blame for the market rout in oil prices on April 20 d) USO has switched to using a mixed maturity of futures contracts, thus increasing transparency and ensuring the fund's price won't collapse again e) USO tracks the spot price of oil, so if the spot price of oil goes up 45%, USO goes up 45%.
