Light at end of tunnel for currency traders?

Currency traders are taking baby steps toward profitability, as the Barclay’s Currency Traders Index (CTI) crept up 0.52 percent in July, bringing its 2007 gain to 0.9 percent.

That may not send investors in the 114 managed money programs (currency futures and spot forex) that comprise the index racing for a withdrawal slip, but it does represent the highest level of profit the CTI has enjoyed this year.

The CTI still lags behind seven of the six other indices comprised by Barclay’s. The CTA index, Barclay’s catch-all index, is up 2.2 percent through July.

The CTI is trying to avoid its third straight losing year, which would be a first in the 20-year history of the index. The Barclay BTOP FX Index, which tracks the largest investable currency trading programs and accounts for at least half of the investable assets of all programs tracked by Barclay, gained 0.2 percent in July and is up 3.3 percent for the year.

The index, which has been calculated since the beginning of 2005, made an all-time high of 1,053.60 on July 23. It fell in the final week of the month, closing July at 1.040.79.