Note 9 - Investing in Index Futures

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Text Block]

9 - Investing in Index Futures

Substantially all of the Trust’s assets are invested in Index Futures. The Index Futures’ settlement value at expiration is based on the value of the S&P GSCI-ER at that time. Therefore, the value of the Trust will fluctuate based upon the value of the S&P GSCI-ER and the prices of futures contracts and commodities underlying the S&P GSCI-ER. The commodities markets have historically been extremely volatile. For the year ended December 31, 2019 and the year ended December 31, 2018, the average month-end notional amounts of open Index Futures were $960,422,151 and $1,392,468,027, respectively.

The following table shows the variation margin on open futures contracts, by risk exposure category, on the statements of assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018:

	Asset Derivatives	Fair Value		Liability Derivatives	Fair Value
December 31, 2019
Commodity contracts	Receivable for variation margin on open futures contracts	$	—	Payable for variation margin on open futures contracts	$	5,952,581
December 31, 2018
Commodity contracts	Receivable for variation margin on open futures contracts	$	920,643	Payable for variation margin on open futures contracts	$	—

The following table shows the effect of the open futures contracts, by risk exposure category, on the statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017:

	Statements of Operations Location	Net Realized Gain (Loss)			Net Change in Unrealized Appreciation/Depreciation
December 31, 2019
Commodity contracts	Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts	$	25,617,934		$	—
	Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on futures contracts		—			136,157,900
December 31, 2018
Commodity contracts	Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts	$	(11,940,106	)	$	—
	Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on futures contracts		—			(190,921,734	)
December 31, 2017
Commodity contracts	Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts	$	3,410,884		$	—
	Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on futures contracts		—			77,224,746