What The Hightower Report does

The Hightower Report, operating under the legal entity Hartfield Trading Partners, is a commodity research and trading advisory service founded in 1990 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company produces fundamentally-based daily commentary across five commodity segments — Financials, Metals, Energy, Grains, and Livestock — along with a Friday-afternoon Weekly Market Letter delivering trading strategies, a Daily Technical Summary providing classical technical indicators (support/resistance, moving averages, stochastics), and a Research Center offering historic commodity data for professional traders, brokers, and researchers. Physical product lines include an annual Commodity Trading Guide ($27, featuring 10 years of supply/demand tables, contract specs, and 350+ charts) and Pocket Calendars ($8). The company also provides Hedge Consulting as a professional services offering for commodity producers and hedgers managing volatility.

The business operates a subscription-first, self-serve GTM model with a ~2-week free trial funnel and no credit card requirement. Revenue streams are predominantly recurring monthly subscriptions (tiered from $30/month for Weekly Market Letter up to $220/month for the All Comments bundle plus Weekly Letter), supplemented by one-time physical product sales and bespoke Hedge Consulting engagements. Multiple-user and Research Center trials are handled via toll-free phone sales, indicating a hybrid self-serve / inside-sales motion for higher-value customers. The company distributes globally, with international shipping available for physical products and a stated worldwide trader base for the Trading Guide.

Technology infrastructure is light: no proprietary platform, API, or mobile application is described. The stack consists of MailChimp for email marketing automation and SalesForce for CRM/subscriber management, supporting a digital content delivery model via two web properties (futures-research.com for subscriber back-end and hightowerreport.com for marketing/sales). No AI/ML capabilities, patents, or technology partnerships beyond standard martech are disclosed. The company is privately held with no external funding events recorded.

Name

The Hightower Report

Legal name

Hartfield Trading Partners

Website

https://futures-research.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Hightower Report is a Chicago-based commodity research and advisory firm, founded in 1990, delivering subscription-based daily commentary, weekly market letters, technical analysis, and historic data research to commodity traders, hedgers, brokers, and institutional clients worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commodity Research and Trading Advisory

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Commodities Research (FSACAGAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Commodity Market Data, Pricing & Benchmark Administrators (Commodity Indices/Assessments) (FSAFAMAJ), Business, Finance & Industry Trade Magazines (MPAJAEAM)

Keywords

• Commodity research
• Futures market analysis
• Trading advisory services
• Market commentary subscriptions
• Hedge consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Commentary Subscriptions: Monthly recurring subscriptions to various commodity market commentary segments including Financials, Metals, Energy, Grains, and Livestock. Offered as individual segments or combinations at discounted rates.
2. Weekly Market Letter: Monthly subscription to the Weekly Market Letter released Friday afternoons with trading ideas and strategies.
3. Daily Technical Summary: Monthly subscription to afternoon technical indicators and comments for major commodity markets including support/resistance, moving averages, and stochastics.
4. Research Center: Monthly subscription to comprehensive commodity research tool for professional traders, brokers, and researchers requiring access to historic information.
5. Commodity Trading Guide: One-time purchase of annual Trading Guide featuring futures/options expiration dates, supply/demand tables, government report dates, contract highs/lows, crop calendars, charts, glossary, and contract specifications.
6. Pocket Calendars: One-time purchase of annual pocket calendar in 3 3/4" x 7" format with commodity trading dates and information. Customized versions available.
7. Hedge Consulting: Consulting services for commodity producers and hedgers to help secure products, handle volatility, and enhance bottom line.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Hightower Report provides subscription-based fundamental and technical research on commodity markets across Financials, Metals, Energy, Grains, and Livestock segments, delivered as daily commentary, a weekly market letter, and a professional Research Center. It also sells annual reference publications (Commodity Trading Guide and Pocket Calendar) and offers hedge consulting services to commodity producers and hedgers.

Product overview

The Hightower Report is a commodity research and trading advisory service offering a subscription-based product suite delivered primarily through digital content platforms (futures-research.com and Hightowerreport.com). The core offerings include Daily Commentary providing fundamental market research across Financials, Metals, Grains, Livestock, and Energy segments; the Weekly Market Letter delivering trading strategies on Fridays; and the Research Center providing historic commodity data for professionals. Physical products include the Annual Commodity Trading Guide ($27) with comprehensive market data and charts, and Pocket Calendars ($8). Add-on services include the Daily Technical Summary for technical indicators ($35/month) and Hedge Consulting for direct advisory services. Products are available as individual subscriptions or bundled combinations at discounted rates.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Daily Commentary Fundamentally based daily commodity research providing analysis across Financials, Metals, Grains, Livestock, and Energy markets for traders, hedgers, and investors. Offered as individual segment subscriptions or discounted bundles.
• Weekly Market Letter Weekly market analysis released Friday afternoons providing up-to-date trading ideas and strategies for hedgers, traders, and investors to start the next trading week. Priced at $30/month.
• Daily Technical Summary Technical indicators and comments for major commodity markets released in the afternoon, including support and resistance levels, moving averages, and stochastics. Priced at $35/month.
• Research Center Comprehensive commodity research tool providing historic information for professional traders, brokers, and researchers. Priced at $125/month with a trial option at $175/month.
• Annual Commodity Trading Guide Annual comprehensive trading reference featuring futures and options expiration dates, 10 years of supply and demand tables, government and industry report dates, all-time contract high and low prices, global crop calendars, over 350 charts and graphs, a traders' glossary, and contract specifications. Priced at $27.
• Pocket Calendar Physical 3.75 x 7 inch pocket calendar featuring commodity trading dates and information, with customized versions available. Priced at $8 with free US shipping.
• Hedge Consulting Advisory consulting services for commodity producers and hedgers to help secure products, handle market volatility, and enhance their bottom line through hedging strategies.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Platts (S&P Global Commodity Insights): Platts, now part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, is a benchmark commodity pricing and analytics provider. It overlaps with Hightower's commodity intelligence offering but as a much larger incumbent serving enterprise and institutional clients globally.
• Argus Media: Argus Media is a global commodity price reporting and research firm covering energy, metals, and agricultural markets. It overlaps with Hightower's commodity research scope but operates at significantly greater scale as an institutional benchmark provider.
• DTN (Pro Farmer): DTN's Pro Farmer is a leading agricultural intelligence and commodity research service. It is a much larger, diversified incumbent offering market data, weather, and commodity analysis — overlapping with Hightower's grains/livestock coverage but at greater scale and product breadth.
• R.J. O'Brien & Associates: R.J. O'Brien is a Chicago-based futures brokerage and clearing firm that also provides market commentary and research services. It overlaps with Hightower's commodity research and trader customer base but is a much larger full-service brokerage.

Direct peers

• Allendale Inc. Allendale is a commodity research and brokerage firm providing fundamental and technical analysis of agricultural markets (grains, livestock) — directly overlapping with Hightower's Grains and Livestock commentary verticals and serving similar hedger and trader customers.
• Zaner Ag Hedge: Zaner Ag Hedge provides agricultural commodity research, market commentary, and hedging advisory — a direct peer in commodity subscription commentary and hedge consulting, especially for grains producers.
• AgResource Company: AgResource is a commodity research firm specializing in agricultural market analysis and hedging advice, closely comparable to Hightower's grains/livestock focus and hedge consulting service.
• Commstock Investments (Brock Report): Commstock Investments provides commodity market research and advisory through the Brock Report — a direct competitor in subscription-based commodity commentary serving traders and hedgers in agricultural and metals markets.
• AgriVisor (Bockorny Group): AgriVisor provides grain and livestock market advisory services to farmers and producers — directly comparable to Hightower's grains/livestock commentary and hedge consulting offerings.

Emerging players

• Water Street Solutions: Water Street Solutions offers commodity advisory and risk management services to agricultural producers. It is a comparable niche player in commodity hedging advice, smaller in scale than Hightower with partial overlap on grain/livestock consulting.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HightowerReport
• Facebookfacebook.com/HightowerReport

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Hightower Report