NEARLY FIVE YEARS

ago I

using membership prices at commodity exchanges as a useful leading indicator into the commodities themselves. Not surprisingly, as commodity prices have boomed, so have the value of exchange memberships where those markets trade.

and been acquired by CME Group), and the New York Board of Trade (along with the Coffee, Sugar, Cocoa Exchange) has since been taken over by the IntercontinentalExchange. Nymex is in the process of being bought by CME as well.

Enter the Minneapolis Grain ExchangeSee chart below

So if you're loaded up on the PowerShares DB Agriculture ETF or the iPath Dow Jones-AIG Agriculture Total Return Sub-Index ETN and looking for the sign of a top, then tracking membership prices both at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange MGEX Seat Prices and still-independent Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBOT Seat Prices are useful indicators worth watching.

Also See:

• When You Make a Bad Trade, Own It

• Technical Indicator Favors Japan Over U.S.

• The Market Is Beyond Control. Your Trades Aren't

Jonathan Hoenig is managing member at Capitalistpig Hedge Fund LLC.

Minneapolis Seat and Wheat Prices

Source: Minneapolis Grain Exchange and Rosewood Research