A pocket-size compendium of key topics related to the management of commodities for USAID's Office of Food for Peace Title II Food Assistance Programs.
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.
Questions of company governance have been examined over the years, but this has generally been in areas concerning shareholders. Meanwhile the management team and board of directors remain comparatively unexplored. This book has been written to provide a way into this relatively unknown world of executive committees.
Praise for The CME Group Risk Management Handbook "Wow! The CME Group Risk Management Handbook is a 'ten strike' and long overdue. A must-read and reference for the risk management industry!" —Jack Sandner, retired chairman of CME Group, member of the Executive Committee "This is a powerful book for its integration of futures and options markets with an understanding of the whole economy. It is an eye-opener to see how central these markets are to our economic lives." —Robert J. Shiller, Okun Professor of Economics, Yale University; Chief Economist, MacroMarkets LLC "Risk management is essential to successful investing, and The CME Group Risk Management Handbook provides the essentials for understanding risk management. In the wake of the financial turmoil of the last few years, managing risk should be part of any investment program. Among the key elements of risk management are stock index, bond, currency, and commodity futures as well as a growing number of futures, options, swaps, and other financial instruments built on indices tracking housing prices, weather conditions, and the economy. The CME Group Risk Management Handbook offers a comprehensive guide for using all of these to better manage financial risks." —David M. Blitzer, PhD, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee, S&P Indices "Dare we ignore the advice of a financial institution, the largest of its kind in the world, that navigated the recent financial crisis without the aid of a single TARP dollar or access to the Fed's cheap loans? For CME Group, risk management has meant risk minimization as it enters its 151st year of life and its 85th year of central counterparty clearing without a single trading debt unpaid. It has been, and continues to be, a leader by example." —Philip McBride Johnson, former CFTC chairman "For the first time, a comprehensive handbook outlining the futures market in today's world is available. The CME Group Risk Management Handbook covers futures basics for the novice trader, while the veterans will benefit from an in-depth look at options and hedging. This handbook is a necessity for any professional, investor, or other market participant seeking to manage risk in the perpetually changing futures market." —H. Jack Bouroudjian, CEO, Index Futures Group
Designed for students, young managers and seasoned practitioners alike, this handbook explains the nuts and bolts of the modern logistics and distribution world in plain language. Illustrated throughout, this second edition includes new chapters on areas previously not covered, such as: intermodal transport; benchmarking; environmental matters; and vehicle and depot security.
Questions of company governance have been examined over the years, but this has generally been in areas concerning shareholders. Meanwhile the management team and board of directors remain comparatively unexplored. This book has been written to provide a way into this relatively unknown world of executive committees.
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.
This book aims to cover the following general topics: development and assessment of theories for evaluating commodity risk; the role of derivative securities in managing commodity risk; and, an assessment of the actual management of commodity risk in specific situations. The primary contribution of the book is the explicit development of the often overlooked connection between risk management and speculation. The central theme is to demonstrate that commodity risk management decisions require an in depth understanding of speculative strategies. To this end, this book aims to provide a unified treatment of important concepts and techniques that are useful in applying derivative securities in the management of risk arising in commodity markets.
Filled with a comprehensive collection of information from experts in the commodity investment industry, this detailed guide shows readers how to successfully incorporate commodities into their portfolios. Created with both the professional and individual investor in mind, The Handbook of Commodity Investments covers a wide range of issues, including the risk and return of commodities, diversification benefits, risk management, macroeconomic determinants of commodity investments, and commodity trading advisors. Starting with the basics of commodity investments and moving to more complex topics, such as performance measurement, asset pricing, and value at risk, The Handbook of Commodity Investments is a reliable resource for anyone who needs to understand this dynamic market.