Mad Group Investments madgroup.altavra.com

Mad Group Investments trading methodology is based on both technical trading and fundamental trading techniques. Money managers generally rely on either fundamental or technical analysis or a combination thereof, in making trading decision and attempting to identify price trends in a security or commodity interest. “Fundamental analysis” considers factors external to the market of a particular instrument which affects the supply and demand of that particular instrument in order to predict prices of that instrument. As an example, some fundamental factors which affect the supply of commodities (e.g., agricultural products such as corn and soybeans) include the acreage planted, weather conditions during the growing season, harvesting and distribution of the commodity, and the previous year’s crop carryover. The demand for such commodities is determined in part by domestic consumption and exports and is a product of many factors, including general world economic conditions, exports and the cost of competing products which might be substituted as alternate sources of food or fiber.

Technical analysis is not based on the anticipated supply and demand of the “cash” or “physical” (i.e., actual) commodity; instead, technical analysis is based on the theory that a study of the markets themselves (in particular, of trends established by the markets for various instruments during selected historical periods) provides a means of anticipating prices. Technical analysis of the markets often includes a study of the actual daily, weekly and monthly price fluctuations, as well as volume variations and changes in open interest, utilizing charts and/or computers for analysis of these items and other technical market data.

Both the Advisor’s Standard Growth and Aggressive Growth trading programs employ the use of technical and fundamental analysis to formulate market opinions. Options and/or futures are then traded to implement each respective strategy. The Aggressive Growth trading program involves the use of higher leverage levels than the Standard Growth trading program, and the Aggressive Growth trading program may involve the use of day trading techniques to a greater degree than such techniques may be used in the Advisor’s Standard Growth trading program.

Both general methodologies have been employed with success by traders and investors in the past; however, neither trading method can be assured of success during a particular interval of time.

The Advisor will place trades primarily in commodity futures contracts traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), International Monetary (IMM), New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), New York Futures Exchange (NYFE) and Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange, Inc. (CSCE). The Advisor will place trades on the foregoing exchanges in commodity futures including, but not limited to, grain futures (i.e., soybeans, corn, wheat, oats and rice), financials (i.e., U.S. Treasury notes, bonds), indices (i.e., S&P 500, Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, and NYFE), metals (i.e., gold, silver and copper) and soft commodities (i.e., coffee, sugar and cocoa). 

Mad Group Investments may also place trades in options on commodity futures contracts. In particular, the Advisor may sell options. As a general matter, in the event that the Advisor sells options, he will seek to limit the amount risked on any one trade to twice the premium received. For example, if the Advisor were to sell a soybean call for $.08, he would seek to offset the trade if the market price for the call were to move to $.16. However, there can be no assurance that the Advisor will be able to so limit losses when selling options and in fact losses may be greater. The Advisor may also, at his sole discretion, place trades in any commodity futures contract, or options thereon, on any exchange foreign or domestic, in addition to the above named contracts.  The minimum account size is $25,000. Although, as a general matter, the Advisor intends to risk no more than 5% of an account’s total equity on any single trade, there can be no assurance that losses on a position will not exceed this amount and may, in fact, be greater.

Robert P. Meara graduated from Indiana University in 1984 with a Bachelor’s degree in History, with a concentration in Chinese language and Chinese history. Mr. Meara has been registered as an AP with MF Global Inc., a registered Futures Commission Merchant since April 2002. Mr. Meara became listed as a Principal and registered as an associate person of MAD Group Investments, LLC on April 27, 2005.

The descriptions above are from the manager’s disclosure document.

THE RISK OF LOSS IN TRADING FUTURES, OPTIONS AND OFF-EXCHANGE FOREX CAN BE SUBSTANTIAL.  PAST RESULTS ARE NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.  PLEASE READ THE CTA'S RISK DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE INVESTING MONEY.