Combining momentum with reversal in commodity futures

Abstract

This paper examines profitable trading strategies that jointly exploit momentum and reversal signals in commodity futures. While the single-sort momentum strategies returns 11.14% per annum, on average, a consistent reversal pattern of momentum profits is pronounced from 12 to 30 months after portfolio formation. Combining the observed reversal pattern with the momentum signal, our double-sort strategy returns 20.24% per annum, which significantly outperforms single-sort strategies. The proposed strategy is robust to seasonality effects and sample adjustments in commodity futures. The profitability of the double-sort strategy cannot be explained by standard risk factors, term structure, market volatility, investor sentiment, data-mining or transaction costs, but appears to be related to global funding liquidity. As a consequence, the double-sort strategy in commodity futures may be employed as a portfolio diversification tool.