上周五在铜锌上暴仓的对冲基金red kite

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Troubles of a Hedge Fund, Red Kite, Pummel Copper and Zinc PricesBy LISA YURIKO THOMAS
February 3, 2007; Page B2

LONDON -- Copper and zinc futures, already down double-digits for the year, extended those declines Friday as a large hedge fund's losses weighed on the markets and commodity funds bailed out of these cooling sectors.
Investors were concerned about sharp losses incurred by metals-trading hedge-fund giant Red Kite Management Ltd. News of this once-highflying fund's troubles hurt sentiment, spreading concern that other hedge and commodity funds will take more money off the table, traders said.
Meanwhile, SemperMacro, a hedge fund set up by a former star Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader and the former chairman of the British Broadcasting Corp., is cutting staff and fees after investors took cash out following a near 16% loss last year, people familiar with the matter said. It reflects pressures on macro funds, which bet on broad economic trends. (Read more)
Red Kite's $1 billion metals-trading hedge fund has suffered losses of as much as 20% this year, according to an unofficial estimate that the fund provided to one investor.
Red Kite asked investors this past week to give it 45 days notice, up from 15, before withdrawing funds at quarter's end. The fund's waiting period had been less restrictive than those of some peers. (Indeed, some longer-term investors in Red Kite had sought tougher restrictions to avoid withdrawals from fellow investors at the first sign of trouble, a person familiar with the matter says.)
Traders said speculation about whether investors would pull money from Red Kite weighed on metals.
Copper prices have fallen roughly 40% since hitting a high of $8,800 a ton in May while zinc prices have fallen roughly a third since hitting $4,580 a ton in November.
London Metal Exchange three-month zinc settled at $3,080 a metric ton, down 10% from Thursday, its lowest price since June 29. Three-month copper settled at $5,345 a ton, down nearly 5% from Thursday, its lowest price since March 30.
In New York, Comex-traded copper for February sank 10.80 cents, or 4%, to a 10-month low of $2.41 a pound -- and a 8% decline for the week.
Comex-traded copper is already off 16% on the year.
Hedge and commodity funds have been cited as contributing to volatility in the commodity markets, though they don't all bet that metals will rise.
China, whose booming economy and appetite for commodities has helped push up commodity markets, is now a factor in their declines.
Expectations that China would return in the new year and import large amounts of copper have yet to materialize, said Calyon commodities analyst Michael Widmer. The result has led to reduced copper imports and increased copper inventories at warehouses around the world.
In other commodity markets Friday:
SOYBEANS: Prices on the Chicago Board of Trade rallied, supported by a report in an agriculture newsletter which suggests soybeans will lose even more acres than expected to corn this spring in the U.S. March soybeans rose 15.25 cents to $7.3675 a bushel.
CRUDE OIL: Futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose above $59 a barrel -- up $1.72 or 3% to $59.02 -- on concern about tightening heating-oil inventories amid continued cold weather, along with worries over supplies in oil-producing countries.