Sad to say it was another lackluster month for managed futures, with the Newedge CTA Index reporting managed futures down -0.21% for the month. This makes it four months in a row of losses, bringing the YTD figure for the index down to -3.13% (Disclaimer: past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.)

On the heels of last month’s -3.11% loss for the index, a loss of two tenths of a percent doesn’t seem so bad, but it’s far from good news. The lack of trends in major markets that we’ve bemoaned all year continued in November, especially in the indices. October’s selloff continued for the first half of the month with a sharp drop immediately after election day, but a mid-month reversal prevented a longer-term down trend from taking hold.

With just one month left in 2012, it’s unlikely we’ll see enough of a turnaround to put managed futures back into the green for the year. We’re obviously disappointed to mark the year down as a loss, but we’re by no means surprised. Managed futures is for the patient: those who are willing to stick it out through such periods, enduring small but frequent losses while lying in wait for breakout gains.