Research Commodities

At first glance, ethanol seems to make sense. It is a clean burning fuel and it is better for the environment than gasoline, but things aren’t always what they seem. Ethanol solves one problem but it might be creating several larger and unintended problems.

Commodities typically follow and inverse relationship with the value of the dollar. When the dollar strengthens against other major currencies, the prices of commodities typically drop. When the value of the dollar weakens against other major currencies, the prices of commodities generally move higher.

Commodity ETFs and ETNs have become a new and easy way for investors to trade commodities and include them as part of their long-term investment portfolio. However, commodity ETFs have somewhat changed the dynamics of the markets, as some believe this wave of new funds into the markets has increased volatility, ultimately leading to exaggerated...

Looking for information to research commodities to make trading decisions is not always an easy task. Commodities are not as mainstream an investment as stocks, so you have to look a little deeper to find the latest news and research. The good news is that there is plenty of research on commodities, but you just have to know where to find it.

Natural gas as the fuel of the future makes sense no matter which method of analysis you use. Natural gas is one of the cleanest burning fuels and the United States has enough supply to become energy independent. It has also become one of the cheapest fuels - even cheaper than coal. So why is it not the most widely used fuel in the U.S. when...

As gold has marched higher throughout the last decade, there has been no shortage of market predictions for gold prices. I remember when $1,000 once seemed like a radical prediction. Then it was $2,000. Then it was $5,000. As you might guess, $10,000 was the next magical number being predicted.

Commodities had a stellar year in 2010 as a surge into the end of the year gave most commodities double-digits gains for the year. The average gains for most of the commodity indexes for 2010 were about 20 percent on the year. The soft commodities of cotton, sugar and coffee all had gains in excess of 50 percent for the year and there were...

The two sugar futures markets that are traded include world sugar #11 and U.S. sugar #16. You may be surprised to find out that the U.S. sugar price is substantially higher that the world sugar prices – sometimes twice as much. I would like to say that the U.S. produces the Rolls Royce of sugar, but all the sugar is virtually the same around...

The Baltic Dry Index is an excellent barometer for worldwide demand of commodities. The Baltic Dry Index, sometimes called the Baltic Freight Index, is updated daily by the Baltic Exchange in London. The index serves as a reference for the prices of shipping raw materials through various shipping routes via cargo ships.

Liquidity is very important to active commodity traders. The higher the volume of a futures contract on a commodity, the easier it is to get in an out of a market at the truest price – less slippage. Commodities with high volume are the often the choice for day traders and many large traders. Low volume commodity markets are often prone to wild price swings.

Silver mining stocks are a good way to invest in the silver market. They can be more conservative than silver futures and silver etfs. A list of the largest publicly traded silver mining stocks is included.

Gold mining stocks are a good way to invest in the gold market. They can be more conservative than gold futures and gold etfs. A list of the largest publicly traded gold mining stocks is included.

Copper mining stocks are a good way to invest in the copper market. They can be more conservative than copper futures and copper etfs. A list of the largest publicly traded copper mining stocks is included.

Researching commodities is a very broad topic and there is no simple procedure that works for every commodity trader. In fact, do not expect to become an expert and sift through mounds of data when researching commodities. You just want enough information to make rational trading decisions.

FuturesPortal.com offers futures trading research and news from several commodity futures traders and analysts. Their goal is to educate futures traders.

Wheat crops are planted and harvested at different times around the world. Included are the growing seasons for wheat in the United States and China.

Soybean crops are planted and harvested at different times around the world. Included are the growing seasons for soybeans in the United States, Brazil, China and Argentina.

Corn crops are planted and harvested at different times around the world. Included are the growing seasons for corn in the United States, Brazil, China, Argentina and Europe.

Read and understand the key components of the USDA grain stocks report.

The USDA releases the Prospective Plantings report at the end of March each year. The report tells us how many acres are expected to be planted of each crop for the upcoming season.

Weekly research and analysis of the commodities markets. A review of the week in trading and an outlook to next week for the commodity futures markets.

Trading volumes for futures and commodities increased substantially in 2007 due to the bull market in commodities.

Using fundamental analysis to research and trade commodities and futures. Supply and demand are the main factors to determine the price of commodities.

Commodities have been in a long term bull market due to increase world demand and tight supplies for many commodities.

Learn why commodities prices move how to research the commodities markets.

An introduction to the fundamentals of the livestock markets from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Almost everything you need to know about oil. The Energy Information Administration covers all the fundamentals of the oil markets.

Learn the basics of the agriculture markets from the Chicago Board of Trade.

Research updated news and information on commodities by market sector from FutureSource.com.

This decade has been very kind for commodity investors, as the Continuous Commodity Index has increased 235 percent over the last 10 years. Commodities peaked in the summer of 2008 and were up 307 percent at the peak. While the overall commodity averages have faired quite well for the decade, several commodities stand out with some amazing runs.

The USDA is the main source commodity traders and analysts turn to when researching the agricultural commodities. The USDA periodically publishes data on the supply and demand fundamentals for commodities. These are the main reports you want to follow when researching commodities, although they do make revisions to the data. This data is void of analyst opinions and allows you to form your own…

The USDA releases weekly crop progress reports during the growing season on the current status of crops in the U.S. These reports reveal vital information for commodity investors as they get an unbiased view of how well crops are developing during the growing season. Commodity investors tend to focus mainly on corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton when they analyze the USDA weekly crop reports, whic…

A long-term commodity index chart is the best way to quickly see how commodity prices have moved lower and higher throughout the last several...