A1140
Title: An introduction to ESMA's commitments of traders reports: Do hedgers really hedge?
Authors: Martin Stefan - University of Muenster (Germany) [presenting]
Claudia Wellenreuther - University of Muenster (Germany)
Martin T Bohl - University of Muenster (Germany)
Abstract: A novel type of commodity futures positions report issued by the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) is introduced. This report is interesting to researchers for two reasons: First, it allows analyzing European commodity markets, which, compared to US-American markets, have hitherto largely been ignored by the literature. Second, this new type of report offers the advantage of breaking down positions not only by the different types of traders but also by the underlying trading motives. These new data for different energy and metal futures contracts are studied. The results suggest that the extent of speculative positions might have been underestimated in earlier studies.
