Focus on Commodity Trading and the Future of Commodity Markets
The commodity trading universe is now based on a modern, open, well regulated network of commodity exchanges across all time zones. Primary producers and end users can trade commodities within agreed and well defined regulations and using standardised contracts and dispute mechanisms. With the result that today it is much easier to smoothly trade across the range of commodities from gold to rice and from crude oil to aluminium and sugar.
Consider that a few commodities like crude oil and coffee have been traded for a very long time in mature markets, but now we see early 21st century markets innovating with different types of futures contracts being introduced. Among these more colourful types of commodity are carbon in the form of emission permits. With the rising anxiety about the serious environmental damage from climate change caused by greenhouse gases, a fast growing market has mushroomed in emissions permits, a form of activity known as carbon trading.
Going forward we can expect to see more growth in commodity market products which place a price on the environment, for example, new products in carbon emissions, plastics, water and even the weather.In fundamental terms, commodity trading is buying and selling of futures contracts which represent commodities. In the market, you may see the zinc producer hedging his future sales from a price drop or perhaps a food manufacturer hedging his cocoa purchases from a sudden price spike caused by crop failure.
The commodity markets rely on their liquidity from the speculators who are the major players, while commodity end users and primary producers are relatively minor actors who are hedging their operations. What are the key requirements of a futures contract? That it allows a trader to buy or sell a specified amount of a given commodity in the future, at a price fixed when the contract is exchanged and based on the demand and supply at that time.
Across the world time zones commodity traders are active in the markets either on the floor of the exchange, called open outcry, or using an electronic trading platform. Over recent years the volume of electronically traded futures contracts has increased markedly, as a number of exchanges have combined to form mega commodity exchanges.
Small retail speculators are now able to commit small amounts of capital to these global commodity markets due to ease of online access and use of real time data and online trading software availability. Some traders will prefer to focus on fundamentals like demand and supply of basic commodities to decide when to trade, while others tend to follow the price action of a commodity irrespective of sector, on the basis that technically analysis suggests it is offering significant opportunities for making profits.
With the opening up of the emerging market economies such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (or BRIC countries), we are likely to see a continuation of the growth in commodity markets in these nations. For example, Dalian Commodity Exchange in China has ambitious plans to develop beyond its current specialism in agricultural commodities, and move to industrial metals and more. While in the Middle East, Dubai is a growing financial centre and the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange has an interesting product range including WTI light, sweet crude oil, steel, plastics, gold and silver and the Indian Rupee.
The global credit crunch has had a profound impact on the world economy with growth being cut sharply and this has had knock-on effect on commodity prices and demand, with major companies and some economies being hit badly, yet as an asset class commodities seem unimpaired. If we look beyond the short term problems, the world economy will still need the major commodities like crude oil, iron ore, aluminium, and copper, as well as softs like sugar, cocoa and coffee, and the grains like soybean and rice. So looking ahead commodity markets will recover and the environment for commodity trading will be such that it will continue to be at the heart of world finance. - 23211
Consider that a few commodities like crude oil and coffee have been traded for a very long time in mature markets, but now we see early 21st century markets innovating with different types of futures contracts being introduced. Among these more colourful types of commodity are carbon in the form of emission permits. With the rising anxiety about the serious environmental damage from climate change caused by greenhouse gases, a fast growing market has mushroomed in emissions permits, a form of activity known as carbon trading.
Going forward we can expect to see more growth in commodity market products which place a price on the environment, for example, new products in carbon emissions, plastics, water and even the weather.In fundamental terms, commodity trading is buying and selling of futures contracts which represent commodities. In the market, you may see the zinc producer hedging his future sales from a price drop or perhaps a food manufacturer hedging his cocoa purchases from a sudden price spike caused by crop failure.
The commodity markets rely on their liquidity from the speculators who are the major players, while commodity end users and primary producers are relatively minor actors who are hedging their operations. What are the key requirements of a futures contract? That it allows a trader to buy or sell a specified amount of a given commodity in the future, at a price fixed when the contract is exchanged and based on the demand and supply at that time.
Across the world time zones commodity traders are active in the markets either on the floor of the exchange, called open outcry, or using an electronic trading platform. Over recent years the volume of electronically traded futures contracts has increased markedly, as a number of exchanges have combined to form mega commodity exchanges.
Small retail speculators are now able to commit small amounts of capital to these global commodity markets due to ease of online access and use of real time data and online trading software availability. Some traders will prefer to focus on fundamentals like demand and supply of basic commodities to decide when to trade, while others tend to follow the price action of a commodity irrespective of sector, on the basis that technically analysis suggests it is offering significant opportunities for making profits.
With the opening up of the emerging market economies such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (or BRIC countries), we are likely to see a continuation of the growth in commodity markets in these nations. For example, Dalian Commodity Exchange in China has ambitious plans to develop beyond its current specialism in agricultural commodities, and move to industrial metals and more. While in the Middle East, Dubai is a growing financial centre and the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange has an interesting product range including WTI light, sweet crude oil, steel, plastics, gold and silver and the Indian Rupee.
The global credit crunch has had a profound impact on the world economy with growth being cut sharply and this has had knock-on effect on commodity prices and demand, with major companies and some economies being hit badly, yet as an asset class commodities seem unimpaired. If we look beyond the short term problems, the world economy will still need the major commodities like crude oil, iron ore, aluminium, and copper, as well as softs like sugar, cocoa and coffee, and the grains like soybean and rice. So looking ahead commodity markets will recover and the environment for commodity trading will be such that it will continue to be at the heart of world finance. - 23211
About the Author:
The author, William Davies, travels extensively across the world, observes the exchanges and writes for Commodity Trading Today, an informational and educational resource on commodities markets. Secure your free Commodity Trading Alerts and news from the Commodity Universe Newsletter here.
posted by X - Men @ 2:20 AM
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