Source: Financial Times, 11th January 2012

What's the hottest trade in commodities for 2012? Two of the most obscure commodities have already delivered dramatic returns. Just ten days into the new year, anyone who started the year with a trade on the relative performance of orange juice versus Capesize freight would already be up a cool 96 percent. (That’s not taking transaction costs into account.)

The remarkable return of this rather offbeat trade in such a short space of time is a testament to the volatility of commodity markets. In the first ten days of January – only six business days – orange juice futures have risen 26.4 percent while the Baltic Exchange’s index of Capesize freight has fallen 35.7 percent.