Natural Gas price volatility helped one US hedge fund make more than $400 million in gains in October alone. Statar Capital, based in Miami and led by Ron Ozer, a former trader at Citadel and DE Shaw, profited around 23.5 percent last month, according to numerous sources familiar with the firm’s performance. The gains are a rebound from Statar’s $130 million loss in the first two-and-a-half weeks of September. Natural Gas prices have soared this year as demand has recovered and supply has become constrained, but the market has become more volatile in recent weeks.
Gas prices in the United Kingdom, which were up more than 500 percent for the year early last month, have plummeted along with continental European prices in October, sliding nearly a quarter on signals Russia could resume exports after months of restrictions. In the meantime, US prices on the Nymex commodity futures exchange saw sawed in October, rising to almost $6.40 per million British thermal units at one point before briefly dipping below $5, only to rebound quickly.
The gains, which correspond to more than $400 million in trading profit for October, made it one of the giant hedge fund winners from a volatile month for some markets. Long periods of falling prices have made it harder to make money, and several businesses, like Armajaro Asset Management and Astenbeck Capital Management, have closed funds.
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