Why Do People Trade in Commodities? | Tech Behind It (2024)

Commodity trading is the selling and buying of commodities and their derivatives. Wheat, gold, crude oil, and a slew of other introductory materials and primary agricultural products are examples of commodities. Commodity trading can help you diversify your financial assets. This might have answered your question on what is commodities trading?

For example, future contracts based on commodity prices are traded in commodity trading. Through these contracts, investors wager on the potential cost of a specific commodity. Commodity futures are bought and sold based on whether or not they believe the item’s price will rise or fall short.

Thanks to ancient empires establishing trade channels to exchange their goods, commodity trading predates current financial markets by thousands of years.

Commodities trading is essentially the origin of contemporary investing—the roof of the Australian Stock Exchange. Grain prices could be secured at different times of the year, rather than just during harvest time, when prices were often lower. The farmers and the buyer benefitted from price stability by pre-agreeing on a price in futures contracts.

Commodity trading has evolved tremendously in the last few decades. Commodities from all around the world are traded on this global market. During the week, you have to access it and know what is commodities trading for virtually the whole day.

Take the initial step and bone up on your fundamentals if you’re interested in commodity trading. Learn about the commodity market or how it works.

Commodities of type

Learn about the varieties of commodities that can be traded before you start commodity trading. Common subcategories include:

Exchanges in commodity

Commodity exchange trading is a prerequisite for participating in the commodity market. The trade of commodities occurs on a controlled market called a commodity exchange. Futures contracts allow traders to avoid taking physical delivery of items. Buying or selling a specified amount of a product at a predetermined price and stated expiration date is a Futures contract.

Exchange for commodities

Futures contracts are used by many dealers in Australia’s commodity market. Futures are used by businesses to protect themselves from the danger of losing money due to fluctuations in the price of the commodities they deal in. Speculators participate in the commodity market.

Trading in commodities has benefits

Commodity returns have such a low correlation to the returns of other assets, making it a good choice for diversification. Commodities can be used to vary your investment portfolio as a single asset class.

Commodities were considered a better inflation hedge since their prices are likely to climb when inflation is high. Keeping the buying power parity is made possible thanks to this.

In a natural disaster, a financial downturn, or a conflict, the price of commodities could rise due to supply issues. On the other hand, commodity trading can help you protect your capital by taking advantage of price fluctuations wisely. By purchasing a Futures market based on the current commodity price, consumers can ensure that the entry price of the raw material will not change over time. In the meantime, a producer seeking a higher sale could choose to sell a Futures contract as a short-hedged strategy.

Commodity Trading: A Quick Guide

There are several strategies to trade commodities in your portfolio, each having pros and cons.

Futures on Commodity

Commodity futures trading is the most frequent method of trading commodities. You and another investor form an agreement based on the future price of the commodity to make this work.

A profit would be made if the oil price rose above your contract price of $45 per barrel, while a loss would be suffered if it fell below that price. It is possible to earn when the spot price of oil falls and lose money whenever the spot price rises by entering into a futures contract. Before the contract expires, you have the option to terminate your employment at any time.

Open an account with a futures-trading specialist brokerage firm to invest in these types of trades.

Purchases of Physical Goods

You’re not attempting to buy the commodity itself in futures trading, but instead futures contracts on that commodity. If you’re a futures trader, you don’t buy or sell anything—you gamble on the price of anything. Gold bars and coins, for example, can be purchased and held by individual investors, who do indeed take possession of physical products directly.

Investments in precious metals provide you with a tangible sense of the value of your money by exposing you to commodities like gold, silver, and other precious metals. But with gold bullion, the transaction expenses are higher than with other assets.

Gold, silver, and platinum are the only precious metals that can benefit from this trading method. Giannotto says that even if investors are willing to pay huge markups on the consumer stores, they will still have to do so.

Commodity Futures Markets

Investing in the company’s stock involved in a commodity is an additional alternative. It’s possible to invest in an oil refinery or drilling company’s shares for oil or in a vast agriculture firm or a seed company for grain.

Securities of this type track the underlying commodity’s price. A rise in oil prices should lead to an increase in the share price of an oil firm.

Since the price of commodities might fluctuate, it is less risky to invest in commodity stocks than to invest directly in things themselves. Even if the product itself loses value, a well-run business can still make money. Isn’t it a two-way street? Stock prices for oil companies may benefit from increasing oil prices. Still, there are other elements to consider, such as the quality of its leadership and its overall market share. Buying stocks isn’t a perfect match if you’re searching for a strategy that tracks commodities prices precisely.

A wide range of commodity ETFs, mutual funds, and ETNs are available

Other investments include commodities-based mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and exchange-traded funds notes (ETNs). To monitor the price of a single commodity or even a basket of commodities, these funds pool money from several small investors. An example of this would be an energy mutual fund that invests in several different energy commodities. Either through the purchase of futures contracts or shares in various commodity-exposed companies, the fund can keep tabs on the price.

“Commodity ETFs democratized the commodity trading industry to all shareholders, are low cost, easily available, and very liquid,” says Giannotto.

Compared to building your portfolio from scratch, you can access an enormous variety of commodities for a minimal outlay of cash. Additionally, a seasoned investor will be in charge of overseeing the account. On the other hand, Commodity funds charge a higher management fee than you would if you invested your own money. The fund’s methodology may also mean that it does not track the crude prices precisely.

Pools of Commodities and Managing Futures Contracts

Private funds are available for investing in commodities, such as commodities pools and managed futures. Some mutual funds are not traded publicly, so you must be pre-approved before you may invest in them.

Unlike ETFs and mutual funds, these funds can employ more sophisticated trading tactics, allowing more significant profits. As a result, higher management fees may be incurred.

Trading in Commodities vs Stocks

When trading commodities, leverage is far more common than when trading stocks. There’s no need to put down a large sum of money at the outset. It’s possible to put down 10 percent of an international oil contract’s total value rather than the entire $75,000 deposit.

Depending upon the deal, the contract stipulates that you must maintain a certain minimum balance in your account. Margin calls occur when the market price begins to move in a direction, and you’re more likely to lose and need to invest more money to return to the required minimum value of the trade.

With the use of leverage, “margin trading could lead to bigger profits than the stock market,” adds Turner. You can make money investing in commodities, but you can also lose a lot if the price goes in the wrong direction.

Investments in commodities, particularly in the form of futures contracts with predetermined expiration dates, tend to be more short-term in nature. In contrast, long-term investment in stocks and other market assets is more common.

It’s also easier to trade commodities because the markets are open almost nonstop. Most stock trades occur during business hours, whenever the stock markets are open. Most stock trades take place during regular business hours, except premarket futures, which provide you limited access to the market early.

Although commodity trading is more risky and speculative than stock trading, if your holdings end up generating money, it can result in faster and higher gains.