The J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities at the University of Colorado Denver Business School is pleased to announce the launch of the second issue of the Global Commodities Applied Research Digest (GCARD). The GCARD’s website is designed so individual articles can be seen and downloaded at a glance, including the most recent Fall 2016 edition as well as the inaugural Spring 2016 issue.

The GCARD is an electronic digest produced by the J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities (JPMCC). The JPMCC provides educational and applied research programs at the University of Colorado Denver Business School. The GCARD, in turn, covers topical issues in the agricultural, metals and mining, and energy markets as well as in commodity finance. The selection of articles is based on relevance to the concerns of professionals engaged in the business of commodities. The digest is published biannually and made possible by a generous grant from the CME Group Foundation.

The JPMCC is honored to have a distinguished Research Council responsible for shaping the applied research agenda of the Center. Accordingly, the GCARD draws from insightful presentations and discussions that occur at the Center’s semiannual Research Council meetings.

Dean Rohan Christie-David, Ph.D., welcomed the JPMCC’s Research Council to its September 30, 2016 meeting. This particular meeting included a panel session on commodity supply chain management, which will be covered in the Spring 2017 GCARD. At the outset of the Research Council meeting, Dean Christie-David noted that it was wonderful to meet so many of the researchers, who are well known in the commodities academic literature, during the Council’s morning session.

During the JPMCC’s Research Council meeting, Professor Emeritus Margaret Slade addressed the morning session’s panelists. The panelists at the “Emerging Risks and Challenges in Commodity Supply Chains” morning panel were Professor Nikos Nomikos, Cass Business School, City University London (UK) and member of the JPMCC Research Council; Mr. John Schmitter, KEP LLC; and Mr. Steffen Hammer, Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany). Mr. Hammer’s colleague at Bosch (Germany), Sven Streitmayer, recently joined the JPMCC’s Research Council.

Project Team

Under the leadership of Dr. Ajeyo Banerjee, Executive and Faculty Director of the JPMCC, the GCARD project was carried out by Hilary Till, Solich Scholar at the JPMCC, and by Matthew Fleming, Program Manager of the JPMCC. Ongoing website development advice was supplied by Rebecca Ward, Manager of New Media at the University of Colorado Denver Business School.

Content from Fall 2016 Edition

In her capacity as Contributing Editor of the GCARD, Hilary Till summarized two of the presentations from the JPMCC’s December 2015 Research Council meeting, including a case study by Professor Forest Reinhardt of Harvard Business School and a research summary by Professor James Hamilton of University of California, San Diego.

Professor Reinhardt’s case study covered Olam International, while Professor Hamilton’s research encompassed  the determinants of oil prices. Regarding the latter presentation, Dr. Bluford Putnam of the CME Group and Professor Yosef Bonaparte of the University of Colorado Denver discussed Professor Hamilton’s research from both practitioner and academic perspectives, respectively.

The Fall issue of the GCARD also includes an interview with Dr. Margaret E. Slade, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Slade is also the Co-Chair of the J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities’ Research Council. In her interview, Dr. Slade discussed how she became involved in commodity markets and her motivation for becoming the Co-Chair of the Research Council, noting the JPMCC’s unique position as the only center of its kind. She also provided highlights of past Research Council meetings and detailed her goals for the Council. Additionally, she noted key findings of her recently published work. Lastly, Dr. Slade provided feedback on the GCARD, regarding the types of topics that should be covered, given its practitioner focus.

The Fall 2016 GCARD also included the following additional sections.

The Research Council Corner

“From El Niño to La Niña: Implications for Natural Gas, Agricultural Price Volatility, and the Potential for Hurricanes” by Dr. Bluford Putnam, Chief Economist, CME Group.

“The Great Suppression” by Colin Fenton, Managing Partner and Head of Research, Blacklight Research LLC.

Research Digest Section

“China: Credit, Collateral, and Commodity Prices” as summarized by Dr. Keith Black, Ph.D., CFA, CAIA, Managing Director, Curriculum & Exams, CAIA Association; and member of the GCARD’s Editorial Advisory Board.

Editorial Advisory Board Commentary

“Swing Oil Production and the Role of Credit” by Hilary Till, Contributing Editor, and Jan-Hein Jesse, Editorial Advisory Board Member, GCARD.

Spring 2017 Edition

The next issue of the GCARD will be released during Spring 2017 and will highlight articles from the GCARD’s Editorial Advisory Board members, including coverage of the following topics:

• Oil by Ebele Kemery of J.P. Morgan Asset Management;
• Natural Gas by Peter O’Neill, CFA, of Uniper Global Commodities North America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of E.ON; and
• Gold by Professor Fergal O’Connor, Ph.D., of the University of York (UK).