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Ag. Commodities Fund and/or ETF suggestions?

PopTartPopTart
edited June 2011 in Fund Discussions
Hi ~ I'm interested in possibly investing in an ag. fund and/or ETF. Specifically a vehicle which holds corn, wheat and other soft commodities. I already have exposure to hard commodities via GLD, SLV and TGLDX (Tocqueville Gold). I've looked at MOO but am curious as to what else is out there. I'm 29 years old, so retirement's a long way off. Any suggestions from board members and lurkers alike would be welcome.

Thanks in advance!



Comments

  • scott
    edited June 2011
    GCC is more heavily weighted to ag than most broad basket commodity futures ETfs (a bit more than half.) USCI is apparently coming out with an ag-focused ETF, although it's not out yet. I liked Sprott Resource and the farming portion (both in terms of the large Canadian farm and their smaller South American investment) and while it did well for a time period, I sold a good portion of it a month or so ago and sold the remainder a few days ago and the stock has fallen another 8-10% or so more (currently at $4.60). That is a very, very speculative commodity stock play with solid management and really one of the few (only?) farmland plays I'm aware of. However, the illiquid nature of the investments (a number of which are private) within Sprott Resources will lead to possibly extreme volatility. I will be looking to get back into it at some point, possibly. Soros-backed Agrocogaro (AGRO) is another idea.

    It's tough, there's few actively managed retail commodities investments - there are a few ag ETFs.

  • fundalarmfundalarm
    JJA or RJA - these are notes which track AG commodity indexes and are not equities like MOO. the equivalent in ETF land would be DBC, but its structure is quite complex for tax purposes and the tracking error is larger.
  • PopTartPopTart
    Thanks for the ideas Scott and fa. I'll dive in and check them out.
  • Pangolin
    There's also DBA and AGF from PowerShares. The former is an ETF and the latter is an ETN.


    Here's a full list, according to Yahoo Finance:
    http://finance.yahoo.com/etf/browser/mkt?c=etf_aa&k=5&f=0&o=d&cs=1&ce=24
  • ronorono
    Howdy,

    I added a bit of MOO and DBA a couple of weeks back. I wanted to cover the squares.

    rono
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    Hi, PT. I am currently watching CRESY (another Soros-type AGRO thingy) and may bite if it get pummeled in the next couple weeks. I liked it at 17, now it's 14 and change.
    FWIW, hawk
  • BWG
    Scott...how much of Sprott Resource's value is tied to the farmland vs. the other minerals and metals held by the company? My sense is that the farmland is too small a portion of the stock.

    The sudden drop in CRESY, on high volume, has been surprising. Not clear on why this is happening.

    GLTA
  • scott
    edited June 2011
    The farmland portion is not a huge portion of the company, but it is a good portion and there is significant planning for expansion/development (branded products, etc) - at least according to the company. It would appear to be the portion of the company with the most significant future planning. Additionally, at last check, the company also held an investment in Union Agriculture Group, a private farmland venture in South America.
  • PopTartPopTart
    Thanks for the many generous suggestions. I've researched a few already and will look at all of the other suggestions as well. Thanks!
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