Understanding momentum in commodity markets

This article investigates momentum strategies in commodity markets. Using a Markov-switching model and formal tests for the number of regimes in the data, we identify momentum trends for a variety of commodities, exchange rates, interest rates and equities. The data cover the period 1995–2012 at a daily frequency. The results shed light on the key differences between commodities and standard assets with regard to the presence of trends, mean-reverting behaviour and number of regimes that would need to be accurately taken into account to build profitable trend-following strategies. The results are also of economic significance for researchers interested in the modelling of commodity time series.