With new commodity-based funds coming online, Random Roger expects the current run in commodities to continue for some time.

Amanda Cantrell at CNN/Money reviews the performance of some hedge-fund like mutual funds. Analysts note that these funds can be frustrating if you expect them to outperform during bull market phases.

Alistair Barr at Marketwatch.com reports that 25% of hedge funds are going to avoid SEC registration. The question is whether this will force the SEC to revisit their rules.

“If SEC doesn’t pick up a lot of the industry, it will certainly raise questions about whether the new rule is going to meet its intended purpose,” said Barry Barbash, a partner at Shearman & Sterling and a former director of the agency’s Division of Investment Management.

The SEC “invited” problems like this by including the two-year lockup exemption in its hedge fund rule, Barbash added. Originally intended to apply to private-equity funds, it has ended up exempting many hedge funds too, he explained.

This is not the end of the issue. With the rise in “non-compliance” and active litigation against the SEC this issue will continue on into the new year.

As we have noted previously there has been a mad rush of money into international equity funds this year. Craig Karmin and Ian McDonald in the Wall Street Journal note that this flow of funds is profoundly impacting overseas markets and companies. One positive side-effect has been the enhancement of information dissemination and investor-relations activity in general.