Additional Valuation Information | Note 6 - Additional Valuation Information U.S. GAAP defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date, under current market conditions. U.S. GAAP establishes a hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation methods, giving the highest priority to readily available unadjusted quoted prices in an active market for identical assets (Level 1) and the lowest priority to significant unobservable inputs (Level 3), generally when market prices are not readily available or are unreliable. Based on the valuation inputs, the securities or other investments are tiered into one of three levels. Changes in valuation methods or market conditions may result in transfers in or out of an investment’s assigned level: Level 1: Prices are determined using quoted prices in an active market for identical assets. Level 2: Prices are determined using other significant observable inputs. Observable inputs are inputs that other market participants may use in pricing a security. These may include quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, yield curves, loss severities, default rates, discount rates, volatilities and others. Level 3: Prices are determined using significant unobservable inputs. In situations where quoted prices or observable inputs are unavailable (for example, when there is little or no market activity for an investment at the end of the period), unobservable inputs may be used. Unobservable inputs reflect the Fund’s own assumptions about the factors market participants would use in determining fair value of the securities or instruments and would be based on the best available information. The levels assigned to the securities valuations may not be an indication of the risk or liquidity associated with investing in those securities. Because of the inherent uncertainties of valuation, the values reflected in the financial statements may materially differ from the value received upon actual sale of those investments. The Fund's policy is to recognize transfers in and out of the valuation levels as of the end of the reporting period. During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and the year ended December 31, 2017, there were no transfers between valuation levels. The following is a summary of the tiered valuation input levels as of March 31, 2018: Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total Investments in Securities United States Treasury Obligations $ — $ 181,962,008 $ — $ 181,962,008 Money Market Mutual Fund 11,251,528 — — 11,251,528 Total Investments in Securities 11,251,528 181,962,008 — 193,213,536 Other Investments - Assets (a) Commodity Futures Contracts 6,017,774 — — 6,017,774 Total Investments $ 17,269,302 $ 181,962,008 $ — $ 199,231,310 (a) Unrealized appreciation (depreciation). The following is a summary of the tiered valuation input levels as of December 31, 2017: Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total Investments in Securities United States Treasury Obligations $ — $ 126,820,422 $ — $ 126,820,422 Money Market Mutual Fund 12,604,725 — — 12,604,725 Total Investments in Securities 12,604,725 126,820,422 — 139,425,147 Other Investments - Assets (a) Commodity Futures Contracts 5,735,253 — — 5,735,253 Total Investments $ 18,339,978 $ 126,820,422 $ — $ 145,160,400 (a) Unrealized appreciation (depreciation). |