Agricultural, energy or mineral commodities are traded internationally in two market categories: physical markets and financial markets. More specifically, on the financial markets, contracts are negotiated, the price of which depends on the price of a commodity. These contracts are called derivatives (futures, options contracts, swaps). This book presents, on the one hand, the characteristics of these derivatives and the markets on which they are traded and, on the other hand, those transactions that typically combine an action on the physical market and a transaction on the corresponding financial market. The understanding of commodity financial markets mainly relies on the resources of economic analysis, especially the financial economy, because the use of this discipline is essential to understanding the major operations that are conducted daily by the operators of these markets: traders, producers, processors, financiers.
A rigorous but practical introduction to the economic, financial, and political principles underlying commodity markets. Commodities have become one of the fastest growing asset classes of the last decade and the object of increasing attention from investors, scholars, and policy makers. Yet existing treatments of the topic are either too theoretical, ignoring practical realities, or largely narrative and nonrigorous. This book bridges the gap, striking a balance between theory and practice. It offers a solid foundation in the economic, financial, and political principles underlying commodities markets. The book, which grows out of courses taught by the author at Columbia and Johns Hopkins, can be used by graduate students in economics, finance, and public policy, or as a conceptual reference for practitioners. After an introduction to basic concepts and a review of the various types of commodities—energy, metals, agricultural products—the book delves into the economic and financial dynamics of commodity markets, with a particular focus on energy. The text covers fundamental demand and supply for resources, the mechanics behind commodity financial markets, and how they motivate investment decisions around both physical and financial portfolio exposure to commodities, and the evolving political and regulatory landscape for commodity markets. Additional special topics include geopolitics, financial regulation, and electricity markets. The book is divided into thematic modules that progress in complexity. Text boxes offer additional, related material, and numerous charts and graphs provide further insight into important concepts.
An introduction to commodity markets covering specific commodities such as gold, oil, rare earths, aqua and agriculture. This is a comprehensive introduction to commodities markets, written so that you can quickly scan the book before a meeting and run through the specific chapter that interests you. Designed for the non-specialist, this book covers the topics from a practical perspective, and includes statistical data, screen shots, diagrams and worked examples.
Commodities: Markets, Performance, and Strategies provides a comprehensive view of commodity markets by describing and analyzing historical commodity performance, vehicles for investing in commodities, portfolio strategies, and current topics. It begins with the basics of commodity markets and various investment vehicles. The book then highlights the unique risk and return profiles of commodity investments, along with the dangers from mismanaged risk practices. The book also provides important insights into recent developments, including high frequency trading, financialization, and the emergence of virtual currencies as commodities. Readers of Commodities: Markets, Performance, and Strategies can gain an in-depth understanding about the multiple dimensions of commodity investing from experts from around the world. Commodity markets can be accessed with products that create unique risk and return dynamics for investors worldwide. The authors provide insights in a range of areas, from the economics of supply and demand for individual physical commodities through the financial products used to gain exposure to commodities. The book balances useful practical advice on commodity exposure while exposing the reader to various pitfalls inherent in these markets. Readers interested in a basic understanding will benefit as will those looking for more in-depth presentations of specific areas within commodity markets. Overall, Commodities: Markets, Performance, and Strategies provides a fresh look at the myriad dimensions of investing in these globally important markets.
The positive effects of climate change on the market Record-setting snowfall, cyclones in Australia, chronic drought in Russia, and other dramatic weather events are getting increased attention from scientists and the general public. The effects of climate change present challenges to many sectors, but also present major investing opportunities in the stock, bond, and futures markets. Extreme Weather and The Financial Markets looks at climate change from an investor's standpoint. The climate change debate is somewhat irrelevant to those in the financial industry, since we already live with more than enough extreme climate events to impact the financial markets. To the extent that environmental scientists are correct and global climate change is real and getting worse, the more investment opportunities we have The book presents investment ideas that will work under today's global climate condition and will become even more lucrative if global climate change continues Written by Larry Oxley, an acclaimed author who has personally outperformed the index in the Basic Materials sectors (i.e. chemicals, metals, mining, and forest products) for each of the last five years—in both good and bad markets and throughout the global recession—in a portfolio of nearly $2 billion Focusing on the investment opportunities during dramatic weather events, Extreme Weather and The Financial Markets offers advice on how to capitalize on global climate change.
This volume is a collection of chapters covering the latest developments in applications of financial mathematics and statistics to topics in energy, commodity financial markets and environmental economics. The research presented is based on the presentations and discussions that took place during the Fields Institute Focus Program on Commodities, Energy and Environmental Finance in August 2013. The authors include applied mathematicians, economists and industry practitioners, providing for a multi-disciplinary spectrum of perspectives on the subject. The volume consists of four sections: Electricity Markets; Real Options; Trading in Commodity Markets; and Oligopolistic Models for Energy Production. Taken together, the chapters give a comprehensive summary of the current state of the art in quantitative analysis of commodities and energy finance. The topics covered include structural models of electricity markets, financialization of commodities, valuation of commodity real options, game-theory analysis of exhaustible resource management and analysis of commodity ETFs. The volume also includes two survey articles that provide a source for new researchers interested in getting into these topics.
More fortunes are made and lost more quickly in the commodity futures markets than anywhere else. It is a game of consequence where profits won by one player are lost by another. The stakes are high, but for those who know how to play well, the rewards can be immense. Trading Commodities and Financial Futures shows you how to play the game to win. In this book, one of the world's most experienced traders introduces a new step-by-step methodology built on more than twenty-five years of success. George Kleinman begins with the basics—including a complete primer on how futures and options trading works, how traders' psychology impacts the markets, and how to avoid the pitfalls that trip up so many traders. This edition offers updated coverage of electronic trading, the latest contracts, and state-of-the-art trading techniques you won't find in any competing book. Previous editions of Kleinman's Commodity Futures and Options became international best sellers. This one offers even more insight for winning the commodities game—and winning big. Winning in a zero-sum game For every commodities winner, there's a loser: here's how to be the winner The trend is your friend How to use techniques designed to generate profits in a trending market The fundamentals: supply and demand in every key market Mastering the markets, from crude oil to soybeans, gold to coffee, foreign exchange to stock index futures TMVTT: The most valuable technical tool A unique trading methodology—how it works and how to use it When to get in, when to get out How to recognize the beginning—and end—of major market moves Twenty-five trading secrets of the pros A lifetime's experience, distilled into twenty-five crucial tips
You can make large profits by trading commodities--but you’ll need significant practical knowledge of the associated risks and market characteristics before you start.A Trader’s First Book on Commoditiesis a simple, practical and useful guide for new commodities traders. Author Carley Garner provides specific guidance on accessing commodity markets cost-effectively, avoiding common beginners’ mistakes, and improving the odds of successful, profitable trades. Drawing on her extensive experience teaching traders, Garner shows how to calculate profit, loss, and risk in commodities, and choose the best brokerage firm, service level, data sources, and market access for your needs. She’ll help you: · Master the basics of trading commodities painlessly, avoiding beginners mistakes · Get what you need, and prevent paying for what you don’t need · Know what you’re buying, what it costs, the returns you’re earning and the risk you’re taking · Predict price, manage risk, and make trades that reflect your analysis Garner demystifies the industry’s colorful language, helps you clearly understand what you’re buying and selling, and walks you through the entire trading process. She concludes with a refreshingly new look at topics such as trading plans, handling margin calls, and even maintaining emotional stability as a trader. “This book provides the type of information every trader needs to know and the type of information too many traders had to learn the hard and expensive way. Carley offers practical need-to-know, real-world trading tips that are lacking in many books on futures. It will help not only the novice trader, but seasoned veterans as well. This book will serve as a must-have reference in every trader’s library.” --Phil Flynn, Vice President and Senior Market analyst at PFGBest Research, and a Fox Business Network contributor “Refreshing–It’s nice to see a broker who has actually been exposed to the professional side of trading and who bridges that chasm between exchange floor trading and customer service. Carley takes the time to explain verbiage, not just throw buzz words around. A good educational read in my opinion.” --Don Bright, Director, Bright Trading, LLC “This book has the perfect name, the perfect message, and the necessary information for any beginning trader. Take this book home!” --Glen Larson, President, Genesis Financial Technologies, Inc. “As a 35-year veteran of the CME/CBOT trading floor, I can tell you…those who think they can begin trading commodities without knowing the less talked about topics that Carley discusses inA Trader’s First Book on Commoditiesare sadly mistaken. Anyone who trades their own account, or would like to, should read this book.” --Danny Riley, DT Trading
Handbook of Multi-Commodity Markets and ProductsOver recent decades, the marketplace has seen an increasing integration, not only among different types of commodity markets such as energy, agricultural, and metals, but also with financial markets. This trend raises important questions about how to identify and analyse opportunities in and manage risks of commodity products. The Handbook of Multi-Commodity Markets and Products offers traders, commodity brokers, and other professionals a practical and comprehensive manual that covers market structure and functioning, as well as the practice of trading across a wide range of commodity markets and products. Written in non-technical language, this important resource includes the information needed to begin to master the complexities of and to operate successfully in today’s challenging and fluctuating commodity marketplace. Designed as a practical practitioner-orientated resource, the book includes a detailed overview of key markets – oil, coal, electricity, emissions, weather, industrial metals, freight, agricultural and foreign exchange – and contains a set of tools for analysing, pricing and managing risk for the individual markets. Market features and the main functioning rules of the markets in question are presented, along with the structure of basic financial products and standardised deals. A range of vital topics such as stochastic and econometric modelling, market structure analysis, contract engineering, as well as risk assessment and management are presented and discussed in detail with illustrative examples to commodity markets. The authors showcase how to structure and manage both simple and more complex multi-commodity deals. Addressing the issues of profit-making and risk management, the book reveals how to exploit pay-off profiles and trading strategies on a diversified set of commodity prices. In addition, the book explores how to price energy products and other commodities belonging to markets segmented across specific structural features. The Handbook of Multi-Commodity Markets and Products includes a wealth of proven methods and useful models that can be selected and developed in order to make appropriate estimations of the future evolution of prices and appropriate valuations of products. The authors additionally explore market risk issues and what measures of risk should be adopted for the purpose of accurately assessing exposure from multi-commodity portfolios. This vital resource offers the models, tools, strategies and general information commodity brokers and other professionals need to succeed in today’s highly competitive marketplace.
Generate steady returns in one of the world's hottest markets How to Make Money with Commodities offers proven strategies and tactics to help individual investors capitalize from the commodities market as global demographic shifts drive prices up. "How to Make Money with Commodities sets out in crystal-clear language how the commodity markets affect you every day, and in every way, and why your understanding of the market is essential to your portfolio. An incredibly valuable resource for investors of all levels!" -- Ed Weis, Dean, School of Business at Mercy College; former Managing Director, Merrill Lynch "This book gives fascinating insight into the high-octane world of commodities trading. It unravels the mysteries of the market, layer by layer." -- Ian McConnell, Business Editor, The Herald (UK) and award-winning journalist "Andrew Hecht has taken the world of commodities and presented a compelling picture of the various markets from past to present to future. The comprehensive nature of the book makes it a must-read for anyone who is or hopes to be a trader or analyst. . . . Andy's writing is engaging, and he has written a book for everyone, as we are all commodities consumers and intimately affected by these markets." -- Josef Schroeter, President, CQG Inc. Given demographic trends around the globe and the increasing demand for staple goods, the commodities market has transformed into one of the hottest new mainstream investment sectors. If your portfolio neglects commodities, now is the time to change it. How to Make Money with Commodities gives you a fully rounded understanding of the market so you can make the very best investment decisions based on your individual strategies and goals. One of the most sought-after commodities and commodity options traders and analysts in the world, Andrew T. Hecht explains how commodities relate to stocks, bonds, and foreign exchange, and how they affect the average person’s world every day. Bolstered by case studies, historical trends and examples, and Hecht's personal experience, How to Make Money with Commodities explores the fundamentals and technicalities that determine commodity prices and shows how you can use that knowledge to your advantage. Learn everything there is to know about all the major commodities markets, including: ENERGY--oil and oil products, natural gas, electricity, coal, alternative energy PRECIOUS METALS--gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and others BASE METALS--copper, aluminum, nickel, lead, zinc, tin AGRICULTURE--corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, cattle, hogs SOFT COMMODITIES--coffee, sugar, cocoa, orange juice, cotton OTHER COMMODITIES--steel, fertilizers, rare earth metals, lumber, emission allowances, and more Hecht explains the ins and outs of every market and provides an expert's insight into government regulations, speculators, traders, and the role China will play in shaping the market's future--and he explains how to invest directly in commodity-related instruments such as physical commodities, futures contracts, and options on futures contracts. How to Make Money with Commodities is the perfect one-stop resource for building a solid financial future on a market that promises to remain active and vibrant for the foreseeable future. Get started with commodities today and watch your profitability soar.
