Enough cotton for 127 billion T-shirts shows why bulls can't win

Chicago

THERE'S enough cotton sitting in global warehouses to make more than 127 billion T-shirts, or 17 for each person on the planet. That's bad news for investors betting prices will rise.

World inventories at the end of this season will be the second-largest ever, just slightly less than last year's record, according to a US Department of Agriculture forecast last week. That's a signal that supplies will remain ample even after the agency cut its outlook for production.

Hedge funds raised their bullish cotton bets to the highest in more than a year, only to face the first weekly price dr…