Note 9 - Investing in Index Futures

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

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 three months ended  March 31, 2020 and the year ended December 31, 2019, the average month-end notional amounts of open Index Futures were $672,663,538 and $960,422,151, 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 March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019:

	Asset Derivatives	Fair Value		Liability Derivatives	Fair Value
March 31, 2020
Commodity contracts	Receivable for variation margin on open futures contracts	$	5,954,273	Payable for variation margin on open futures contracts	$	—
December 31, 2019
Commodity contracts	Receivable for variation margin on open futures contracts	$	—	Receivable for variation margin on open futures contracts		5,952,581

The following table shows the effect of the open futures contracts, by risk exposure category, on the statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019:

	Statements of Operations Location	Net Realized Gain (Loss)			Net Change in Unrealized Appreciation/Depreciation
Three Months Ended March 31, 2020
Commodity contracts	Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts	$	(224,199,265	)	$	—
	Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on futures contracts		—			(145,592,464	)
Three Months Ended March 31, 2019
Commodity contracts	Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts	$	1,925,231		$	—
	Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on futures contracts		—			163,758,363