The hedge fund manager confesses to having lost all his clients' money in an emotional video on YouTube

This looks like the equivalent of a hedge fund of a video taken hostage.

James Cordier, dressed in a dark suit, expensive cufflinks and watch, sits in a brown leather chair and looks into a camera, hands clasped in front of him.

Then he announces the bad news.

With his voice coming closer sometimes, the hedge fund manager uses nautical terms to tell his clients, in a roundabout way, that he has lost all of their money – about 150 million US dollars, according to one estimate.

In a 10-minute video posted on YouTube, Cordier explains that his clients are like a "family". But now, accusing a "wave of thugs" in the natural gas market, he says he "capsized the boat", which he failed to do. "Lead your investment like a boat" and did not manage to "keep it afloat".

I'm so sorry for not managing our ship and keeping it afloat

James Cordier

Recent fluctuations in the natural gas and oil markets "will probably cost me a lot, my hedge fund," he said of his Tampa-based website, Optionellers.com.

The collapse marks a turning point in the story of Cordier, who literally co-authored a book on the subject "The Complete Guide to Selling Options". In May, anticipating perhaps trouble, he wrote an article in Futures magazine about the dangers of the gas market.

& # 39; Sorry & # 39;

After losing the money from the firm, he names clients and recognizes that his relationship with them is difficult. He regrets not joining a customer of the Cote d'Azur, not to visit another investor from the Australian Gold Coast to watch the sunset, to still have a Cuban sandwich.

Accounts owned by Optionsellers.com, specializing in the sale of commodity options for wealthy investors, have been liquidated, announced Monday INTL FCStone Inc., the brokerage that cleared the transactions of the company, in a statement to Bloomberg.

"I'm really sorry I did not manage our ship and keep it afloat," Cordier says.

Cordier did not respond to repeated e-mails and calls for comments. Rosemary Veasey, the director of the company's office, declined to comment on her losses. The Commodity Futures Commission of the United States declined to comment on the fund.

According to Jason T. Albin, a lawyer at ChapmanAlbin LLC, at least 60 OptionSellers customers have contacted at least 60 clients. "Everyone's account has been cleared," he said during a phone interview.

In addition, he said, FCStone borrowed on the margin of the accounts to cover the losing positions. In the end, the customers did not just lose all their money, they also now have FCStone for the loans, he said.

Extreme movements

Price movements in the energy markets have been extreme in almost every respect.

Oil prices fell sharply on November 13 in three years due to a weaker demand outlook. The next day, natural gas futures in the United States jumped 20%, their biggest gain in eight years, while winter conditions would be colder than expected. Heating fuel inventories fell to a seasonal low of 15 years.

Fluctuations in gasoline have been among the largest since the shale boom a little over a decade ago, with some traders comparing the turbulence following the explosion of hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC in 2006. 39, gap between the widow amounts in natural gas, the difference between gas futures from March and April, reached up to USD 1.75 per million units British thermals versus about 30 cents the previous week. Gas prices then registered a record Nymex drop on November 15th.

FCStone said the volatility of the gas "has caused a liquidity stress for our US Futures Commission merchant clients, both on the commercial and institutional side", but that its commercial clients have responded to their margin calls.

"Although well secured, accounts managed by a commodity trading advisor, Optionsellers.com, had to be liquidated as a result of these changes," FCStone said.

Mr. Cordier of Optionsellers.com wrote in his magazine Futures an article about the dangers of trading in the gas market.

"Natural gas is a difficult market to follow in the short term," he said. "Weather forecasts can bring the large number of public speculators to the market, resulting in senseless daily fluctuations, especially during the winter months. This makes futures trading on pure gas risky. "

Bloomberg.com