Financial Times – Brian Hunter, the trader who was blamed for the collapse of $9bn hedge fund Amaranth Advisors two years ago, has taken ­advantage of last month’s plunge in commodity prices to help propel the year-to-date return at the fund he now advises to 230 per cent.

The Peak Ridge Capital Commodities Volatility fund, which Mr Hunter advises, returned 24 per cent in July as commodities prices fell 10 per cent for the month.

The prices were down 19 per cent from their peak on July 3rd – the biggest monthly decline since March 1980, measured by the Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index.

Slumping demand and steadily rising inventories sent the prices for contracts ranging from oil to soyabeans plunging in July, suggesting that the six-year-old commodity bubble may have burst.

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Sydney Morning Herald- The ownership structure of some of Australia’s largest mining companies could be set for a major change after New York hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners has indicated it believes commodities prices could be nearing their peak.

Harbinger, which has substantial stakes in Australian miners Fortescue Metals, Murchison Metals, Midwest and Moly Mines, has emerged as an opponent of US iron ore miner Cleveland-Cliffs’ proposed $US10 billion acquisition of coalminer Alpha Natural Resources.

Cliffs – which has an 85 per cent stake in West Australian iron ore miner Portman Mining – wants to merge with Alpha to form a more diversified supplier to the steel industry. But Harbinger, which owns 18.4 per cent of Cliffs, has told the US Securities and Exchange Commission it believes the deal is "not in the best interest of shareholders".

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