Which fund you choose depends on whether you're more interested in exposure to general commodities or to energy. We tend to lag if one particular resource is doing better than the others. And if Asia continues to recover, metals and chemicals could strengthen. Wood and building products have been running up, so Ober is looking to paper companies for greater future potential. So, we're seeing higher prices for coated free sheets and newsprint.
Metals are a dicier proposition.
While Ober thinks the worst is over for gold, the precious metal has been limping along for what seems like forever. Base metals such as aluminum and nickel, used in making steel, have fairly tight supply demand fundamentals right now. A massive consolidation movement is under way in aluminum, with Alcoa buying Reynolds and a three-way merger of Canada's Alcan, France's Pechiney, and Switzerland's Alsuisse Lonza. That should help as should a mild uptick in demand from industrial production in Asia. That could continue in the next two quarters, says Onyuka, who doesn't think nickel has as far to run as aluminum, however.