Andy Hall, the oil trader known in markets as “God,” is closing down his main hedge fund after large losses in the first half of the year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The global crude market has “materially worsened" and prices may be stuck around $50 a barrel or below, Hall told investors in his Astenbeck Capital Management LLC firm in a letter last month. The flagship Astenbeck Master Commodities Fund II lost almost 30 percent through June, a separate person with knowledge of the matter said. The people asked not to be identified as the matter is private. A representative for the firm ... (full story)