Commodities are basic goods used in commerce and are most often used as inputs in the production of other semi-finished or finished materials. They are very important products in our lives today and constitute non-negligible sources of income for many countries. This book serves as a guide to the marketing of these goods and provides scholars and commodity market participants with useful concepts, tools and guidelines to better organize and operate commodities exchanges.
This book analyzes the impact of regulation on today's commodity futures trading market by examining the development and growth of both. It addresses the development of regulatory efforts and examines the regulated futures exchange, discusses the creation and development of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and focuses on the types of commodity interests that are traded and their regulation. Commodity interests include leverage contracts, commodity futures contracts and options, and foreign contracts. Including an examination of the problems faced by the government in its regulatory efforts, this important new work is an accessible and authoritative guide for anyone involved in the commodity futures market, including banks, businesses, speculators, and regulators.
This early work on economics is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. It details the principles of commodity exchange and futures trading. This is a fascinating work and is thoroughly recommended for anyone interested in economic methods. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
This treatise provides examination of the scope and intended application of the fraud, manipulation and trading practice prohibitions of the Commodity Exchange Act. It offers practitioners comprehensive treatment of specific types of fraud, prohibited trade practices, general standards, such as secondary liability and scienter, and many other topics.
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.
Commodity Derivatives: A Guide for Future Practitioners describes the origins and uses of these important markets. Commodities are often used as inputs in the production of other products, and commodity prices are notoriously volatile. Derivatives include forwards, futures, options, and swaps; all are types of contracts that allow buyers and sellers to establish the price at one time and exchange the commodity at another. These contracts can be used to establish a price now for a purchase or sale that will occur later, or establish a price later for a purchase or sale now. This book provides detailed examples for using derivatives to manage prices by hedging, using futures, options, and swaps. It also presents strategies for using derivatives to speculate on price levels, relationships, volatility, and the passage of time. Finally, because the relationship between a commodity price and a derivative price is not constant, this book examines the impact of basis behaviour on hedging results, and shows how the basis can be bought and sold like a commodity. The material in this book is based on the author’s 30-year career in commodity derivatives, and is essential reading for students planning careers as commodity merchandisers, traders, and related industry positions. Not only does it provide them with the necessary theoretical background, it also covers the practical applications that employers expect new hires to understand. Examples are coordinated across chapters using consistent prices and formats, and industry terminology is used so students can become familiar with standard terms and concepts. This book is organized into 18 chapters, corresponding to approximately one chapter per week for courses on the semester system.
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.
