The Rosetta program is run by two futures industry veterans, Jim Green and Michael Swinford, with backgrounds in not just the futures markets, but the physical commodities themselves. They launched Rosetta Capital Management in 1997, but have been in the commodities industry for a combined 50+ years.

Mr. Green gained farming experience early in his life, growing up on a grain and livestock farm in Henderson County in Western Illinois, before starting in the commodities business with Heinold Commodities in 1979.

Mr. Swinford was raised in Windfall, Indiana, located in the north central portion of the state. He spent many years working on the family grain and livestock farm, and was in charge of the farm for 5 years following his father’s death. He has likewise been in the commodities business his entire career, having started with Heinold Commodities in 1971.

After a few different stops for both gentlemen, they both ended up in the Livestock Division of Rosenthal Collins Group, one of the largest Futures Commission Merchants. Jim Green the manager of the group, while Mr. Swinford is the Senior Livestock analyst.

How does the program work?

Rosetta's trading strategy is somewhat different than many CTAs in that it is mainly based on fundamental, not technical, analysis. Fundamental traders look at things such as weather patterns, economic reports, and factors likely to affect supply and demand – versus technical traders who look at oscillators, moving averages, and the like.

However, Rosetta does augment their fundamental analysis with some technical overlays using oscillators, moving averages and support and resistance levels. If the fundamental and technical side line up, a trade is very likely. As with most fundamental traders, Rosetta’s trades are 99% discretionary, meaning the fundamental or technical factors can be overridden by the manager at any time as they see fit.

While Rosetta leaves the door open in its D-Doc saying they monitor over 40 global markets – the truth of the matter is that a majority of their trading is focused on the Grain and Meat markets, as that is where the experience of the managers lay.

The goal of their trading strategy is to capitalize on short term trends in each market they look at. But how they go about capturing those trends can change depending on the market.

In very general terms, grain market trading is traditionally very directional and falls in line with the trend eventually. This leads to Rosetta usually taking outright futures positions, either long or short, when trading the grain markets. It is important to note that Rosetta is not a 100% Spread Trading CTA, as they are often incorrectly labeled.

On the other hand, the meats markets can be somewhat volatile and non “trendy”. And for this reason, the majority of Rosetta’s meat market trading emphasizes the use of spreads.