My Current Commodity Futures Positions - 9/28/08

Top posts from the past week:

• Five Easy Ways You Can Diversify Away From the Dollar
• US Mint: Sorry, we're out of gold (again)
• Jim Rogers: Bailout is "welfare for the rich"
  

A review of my trades from the week that was:

• Went long the Swiss Franc - The Swissie is the Yen's carry trade cousin - they usually rise and fall in unison. The Swiss Franc is one of the world's sounder currencies, and I expect the carry trade will continue to unwind.
  

• Also shorted 10-Year Treasuries - As discussed earlier in the week, I am quite bearish on long-dated US Treasuries. I think interest rates have to rise, and rise significantly, as I can't imagine the world will continue to lend the US government money at these bargain basement rates.
  

Other existing positions I've got:

• Long the Japanese Yen - Not much action this week in the Yen.
  

• Long Gold - As we've discussed in this space before, I believe the government's printing of money as fast as it can will send the price of Gold and Silver higher.

• Short Soybeans - Nothing too exciting here, the trend still appears to be down. If the harvest is good, there will be a glut of soybeans on the market.

My wish list (waiting for an uptrend):

• Sugar
• Cotton
• Coffee
  
• Natural Gas
  
• Silver

Open Positions

Date	Position	Qty	Month/Yr	Contract	Entry Price	Last Price	Profit/Loss
09/04/08	Long	1	DEC 08	Japanese Yen	0.9340	0.9503	$2,037.50
09/22/08	Long	1	DEC 08	Swiss Franc	0.931700	0.9212	($1,312.50)
09/24/08	Short	1	MAR 09	T-Note (10yr)	113-245	113-225	$62.50
09/17/08	Long	1	DEC 08	Mini Gold	864.6	892.2	$916.32
09/09/08	Short	1	NOV 08	Mini Soybeans	1168 1/4	1167	$12.50
Net Profit/Loss On Open Positions:							$1,716.32

Account Balances
Current Cash Balance	$54,458.17
Open Trade Equity	$1,716.32
Total Equity	$56,174.49
Long Option Value	$0.00
Short Option Value	$0.00
Net Liquidating Value	$56,174.49

Cashed out: $20,000.00
Total value: $76,174.49

Weekly return: 0.2%
YTD return: -0.4%

***"Cash out" mostly means taxes, but lately I've also been using it to pay down my credit cards a bit. Why credit card debt? I'm financing a startup and trying to outpace my CC interest rate in the futures markets - kids, don't try this at home.