The theory of storage and the volatility in commadity markets

• Main Author: Albuquerque, Thiago de Orlando e
• Other Authors: Sheng, Hsia Hua
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Volatility; Commodities; Convenience-yield; Economia; Bolsa de mercadorias - Preços; Preços - Previsão; Estoques
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10438/4326

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T21:00:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4 Thiago de Orlando e Albuquerque.pdf.jpg: 2856 bytes, checksum: 2e342e59aa139461c7c4477d985645bd (MD5) Thiago de Orlando e Albuquerque.pdf.txt: 92913 bytes, checksum: 3f2f950cd83239cbd5fe7f078ce8e9f9 (MD5) license.txt: 4712 bytes, checksum: 4dea6f7333914d9740702a2deb2db217 (MD5) Thiago de Orlando e Albuquerque.pdf: 1204149 bytes, checksum: 68b752f540a7c19019009ab018574c67 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-08-14T00:00:00Z === This paper extends the methodology of Fama and French (1988) to test the hypothesis described in the theory of storage that the marginal convenience yield on inventory falls at a decreasing rate as inventory increases. As Samuelson (1965) describes, the theory implies that spot and futures price variations will be similar when inventories are high, but futures prices are less variable than spot prices when inventory is low. I test the hypothesis by examining the relative variation of spot and futures prices for WTI crude oil, aluminum and copper based on the Fama and French (1988) method that uses the interest-adjusted basis as a proxy of high and low inventories. Results for the metals are, in general, consistent with the theory of storage, even testing for subperiods, including the boom and burst in the prices of commodities occurred in 2005-2008. For the price of oil, however, some of the results do not hold, especially for the longer contracts, showing that other factors rather than stocks, supply and demand (e.g. speculation) may be driving spot and/or future prices. === Esse estudo estende a metodologia de Fama e French (1988) para testar a hipótese derivada da Teoria dos Estoques de que o convenience yield dos estoques diminui a uma taxa decrescente com o aumento de estoque. Como descrito por Samuelson (1965), a Teoria implica que as variações nos preços à vista (spot) e dos futuros (ou dos contratos a termo) serão similares quando os estoques estão altos, mas os preços futuros variarão menos que os preços à vista quando os estoques estão baixos. Isso ocorre porque os choques de oferta e demanda podem ser absorvidos por ajustes no estoque quando este está alto, afetando de maneira similar os preços à vista e futuros. Por outro lado, quando os estoques estão baixos, toda a absorção dos choques de demanda ou oferta recai sobre o preço à vista, uma vez que os agentes econômicos têm pouca condição de reagir à quantidade demandada ou ofertada no curto prazo.