Commodities Rising

"Commodities Rising, part memoir and part investment guide, provides a unique and practical perspective that is based on a rare combination of professional experiences." -Donald F. Larson, Senior Economist, World Bank "Jeffrey Christian brings twenty-five years of commodity market experience to his thoughtful and insightful new book. A keen analyst, Christian debunks many commodity market myths. There has been a substantial underinvestment in commodity research of late. His book is a 'must-read' for any investor wishing to avoid the pitfalls present in physical commodity investments." -Terrence F. Martell, PhD, Saxe Distinguished Professor of Finance, Director, Weissman Center for International Business, Baruch College, CUNY;Public Governor, New York Board of Trade "If you've read one of the recent 'commodity craze' books, you'll appreciate the more careful, thorough account Christian provides here. His anecdotes and analysis will convince you that this is truly an insider's assessment." -Peter A. Biebel, Vice President, Director of Futures Research, A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. "In addition to its depth, Christian's book is extremely reader-friendly, presenting commodity issues from various angles. I strongly recommend to anyone interested in commodities that they read this book; and to those still unfamiliar with the subject, I recommend that they take a look. The rewards will be significant, intellectually and possibly financially." -Takamasa Akiyama, Professor of Development Economics, Nihon University, Mishima, Japan, and Senior Advisor, Foundation for Advanced Studies onInternational Development (FASID), Tokyo, Japan Analyze the current commodity environment and look out over the next few years to identify potential profit situations in Commodities Rising. You'll learn how commodities can be used to reduce risk and increase returns in a balanced investment portfolio. Author and commodities expert Jeffrey Christian debunks much of the misinformation currently circulating about commodities and provides a reasoned reality-check you can use to evaluate the claims and promises of various publications and brokerages in the commodity field. Specific issues addressed throughout this book include: the variety of commodity investments?exchange traded funds, stocks, futures, and options; commodities in the global economy; commodity trading/investing strategies. Filled with in-depth insights and engaging anecdotes gleaned from the author?s 30 years in the commodity markets, this is an invaluable resource for the serious investor or trader.

Between early June 2010 and February 2011, prices of food commodities increased sharply, surpassing the 2008 peaks that had spread anxiety among policymakers and low-income consumers around the world. Most of the long-term trends in agricultural production and consumption that contributed to the 2002-06 price increases and the 2007-08 price spike also contributed to the recent price surge. This report describes the factors that have contributed to the large and rapid increase in agricultural prices during the past year. It focuses particularly on food commodity prices¿which have risen 60 percent since June 2010. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand edition of an important, hard-to-find publication.

Step-by-step guidelines for making commodities a valuable component in any portfolio As stock market investing becomes increasingly hard to squeeze profits from, savvy investors are finding commodities to be the perfect vehicle for maintaining portfolio performance. Commodities for Every Portfolio shows commodities newcomers how to ease into this straightforward market, which strategies are best (and which to steer clear of!) and much, much more. Investors and traders get easy-to-follow techniques, strategies, and methods, with individual chapters showing how to invest in commodities through stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, and futures. High-performing companies and index-based funds are listed by name, with specific information on how and why they succeed; hard-to-find informational resources are also provided.

A gold mine of information, insights and powerful tools to help you win big in today's commodities markets The recent fortunes made by investors in rare earth metals and gold are just two shining examples of what an extremely profitable investment class commodities can be. But with radical swings in price volatility (think oil) and the vagaries of global geopolitics, commodities also can be one of the trickiest arenas in which to play. Written by the Senior Commodities Editor for The Economist Intelligence Unit, this book provides you with a comprehensive, highly practical look at the commodities markets. In addition to covering major trends and key changes in the markets, both past and present, it supplies you with proven tools for analyzing and taking full advantage of this ever-changing asset class. Focuses specifically on natural commodities classes, such as natural resources and raw materials, both mineral and agricultural Explores trends in the consumption and production of the commodities in question as well as the changing markets for those goods Describes how commodities prices have changed historically and in recent years and how they are likely to change in future Arms investors with an array valuable tools for analyzing market movements, timing trades and tracking and predicting price volatility

World market prices for major food commodities such as grains and vegetable oils have risen sharply to historic highs of more than 60% above levels just 2 years ago. Many factors have contributed to the runup in food commodity prices. Some factors reflect trends of slower growth in production and more rapid growth in demand that have contributed to a tightening of world balances of grains and oilseeds over the last decade. Other factors include increased global demand for biofuels feedstocks and adverse weather conditions in 2006 and 2007 in some major grain- and oilseed-producing areas. This report discusses these and other factors and illustrates how they have contributed to food commodity price increases. Tables and graphs.

In the last decade the performance of commodity assets has been remarkable. Rising demand for raw materials from emerging economies, political and economic disruptions to production and supply, and the introduction of commodities exchange traded funds (ETFs) have combined to push up the cost of the globe's resources. In many of the commodities markets prices rose to record levels, only to fall again sharply in the 2007-2009 financial crisis. But many experts believe that the bull-run in commodities is not yet finished and it is argued that prices could continue to rise well into the next decade. This presents opportunities for investors, but what is the best way to capitalise on these opportunities? The aim of this book is to help investors understand the fundamentals behind the major commodities in the primary resource sectors - energy, base metals, precious metals and agriculture - and to show the value of commodities as a means to diversify exposure and spread risk. The individual commodities within the four sectors are examined in turn, with an analysis of historic price performance, an outline of the supply and demand dynamics, and a discussion on the future outlook for each resource. In each case the best and safest routes for gaining exposure to the four main sectors are explained, and a full list of commodity ETFs listed on the London Stock Exchange is also provided. The book provides the investor with both the rationale for diversifying part of an investment portfolio into commodities and the basic knowledge required in order to invest successfully in these exciting and ever changing sectors.

"The recent global financial crisis exposed the serious limitations of existing economic and financial models. Not only did macro models fail to predict the crisis, they seemed incapable of explaining what was happening to the economy. Policymakers felt abandoned by the conventional tools of the now obsolete Washington consensus and the World Trade Organization's oversimplified faith in free markets. The traditional models for agricultural commodities have so far failed to take into account the uncertain character of the global agricultural economy and its ferocious consequences in food price volatility, the worst in 300 years, yielding hunger riots throughout the world. This book explores the elements which could help to close this fundamental modeling gap. To what extent should traditional models be questioned regarding agricultural commodities? Are prices on these markets foreseeable? Can their evolution be either predicted or convincingly simulated, and if so, by which methods and models? Presenting contributions from acknowledged experts from several countries and backgrounds - professors at major international universities or researchers within specialized international organizations - the book concentrates on four issues: the role of expectations and capacity of prediction; policy issues related to development strategies and food security; the role of hoarding and speculation and finally, global modeling methods. The book offers a renewed wisdom on some of the core issues in the world economy today and puts forward important innovations in analyzing these core issues, among which the modular modeling design, the Momagri model being a seminal example of it. Reading this book should inspire fruitful revisions in policy-making to improve the welfare of populations worldwide."--Publisher's website.

Commodities have become an important component of many investors' portfolios and the focus of much political controversy over the past decade. This book utilizes structural models to provide a better understanding of how commodities' prices behave and what drives them. It exploits differences across commodities and examines a variety of predictions of the models to identify where they work and where they fail. The findings of the analysis are useful to scholars, traders and policy makers who want to better understand often puzzling - and extreme - movements in the prices of commodities from aluminium to oil to soybeans to zinc.