Date of Award
5-4-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Agriculture, MSA
First Advisor
Paul Armah
Committee Members
Calvin Shumway; Donald Kennedy
Call Number
LD251.A566t 2018 W46
Abstract
The government and some institutions have blamed investors as the major cause for price volatility in the livestock commodity and futures markets because of the significant inflow of investments in the livestock futures markets. Consequently, there have been proposed government policies curbing the activities of traders and speculators in the livestock futures markets. This thesis evaluates “excessive” speculation or lack thereof using Working’s Speculative “T” Index in livestock commodities and futures markets to examine investment activities of traders in 3 livestock commodities- live hogs, live cattle, and feeder cattle. This study shows no “excess” speculation in the livestock commodities futures markets between 2006-2011. The implications are that investments in livestock markets may possibly reflect necessary investment needs for the smooth functioning and stability of the markets. Therefore, the government bill HR 4173, known as the Dodd-Frank Reform, designed to curb speculation in the livestock futures market could potentially be counterproductive.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Whitener, Kassy L., "Role Of Speculators In 2006-2011 Price Spikes in the US Livestock Futures Markets" (2018). Student Theses and Dissertations. 512.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/512
