Commodities For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Commodities For Dummies, 3rd Edition

by Amine Bouchentouf
Released March 2023
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781394155156

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Book description

Add another dimension to your portfolio with commodities

Commodities For Dummies gives you a complete overview of the basics of investing in commodities. Step-by-step explanations, plus the most up-to-date market information and global events, make it easy to invest in the stuff the world is made of. This book helps you identify the most valuable commodities to add to your portfolio, use commodities as a safe haven in shifting economic times, and come out on top. Learn quick, with real-life examples, expert advice, and basic explanations to get you involved in energy, agriculture, and metals. Pick up this book, and you’ll be ready to select the right investment vehicles for you, manage risk, and reap the benefits of investing in commodities—the Dummies way.

  • Get a crash course in the basics of global commodity trading and investing
  • Discover how recent global events have impacted commodity prices and supply chains
  • Find the right balance of commodities for your portfolio—in any market weather
  • Understand the importance of ESG and renewables in the commodity investing landscape

This is the perfect Dummies guide for investors who have a good grasp of the basics and want to continue to diversify their portfolio with—you guessed it—commodities.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. Foolish Assumptions
    3. Icons Used in This Book
    4. Beyond the Book
    5. Where to Go from Here
  5. Part 1: Commodities: Just the Facts
    1. Chapter 1: Investors, Start Your Engines! An Overview of Commodities
      1. Defining Commodities and Their Investment Characteristics
      2. Going for a Spin: Choosing the Right Investment Vehicle
      3. Checking Out What’s on the Menu
    2. Chapter 2: Earn, Baby, Earn! Why You Should Invest in Commodities
      1. You Can’t Argue with Success
      2. Why the 21st Century Is the Century of Commodities
      3. What Makes Commodities Unique
      4. Time to Get Down to Business: Commodities and the Business Cycle
    3. Chapter 3: Investing in Commodities: Only for the Brave?
      1. Biting Off More Than You Can Chew: The Pitfalls of Using Leverage
      2. Watch Your Step: Understanding the Real Risks behind Commodities
      3. Tracking Commodities from 2008 through the 2020 Global Pandemic
      4. Managing Risk
    4. Chapter 4: Feel the Love: Welcoming Commodities into Your Portfolio
      1. The Color of Money: Taking Control of Your Financial Life
      2. Looking Ahead: Creating a Financial Road Map
      3. Making Room in Your Portfolio for Commodities
      4. Fully Exposed: The Top Ways to Get Exposure to Commodities
  6. Part 2: Getting Started with Types of Investment Vehicles
    1. Chapter 5: Benefiting from Exchange-Traded Funds
      1. Getting to Know ETFs
      2. Accessing a Variety of Commodity Markets through ETFs
      3. Taking a Look at Leveraged ETFs
    2. Chapter 6: Making a Splash: Investing in Liquid Commodity Instruments
      1. Checking Out Commodity Indexes
      2. From Head to Toe: Uncovering the Anatomy of a Commodity Index
      3. Cataloguing the Five Major Indexes
      4. Determining Which Index to Use
    3. Chapter 7: Show Me the Money! Choosing the Right Manager
      1. Mutually Beneficial: Investing in Commodity Mutual Funds
      2. Mastering MLPs
      3. Relying on a Commodity Trading Advisor
      4. Jumping into a Commodity Pool
    4. Chapter 8: Exploring Commodity Exchanges and Digital Assets
      1. Why Do We Have Commodities Exchanges Anyway?
      2. Identifying the Major Commodity Exchanges
      3. Ready, Set, Invest: Opening an Account and Placing Orders
      4. Owning a Piece of an Exchange
      5. What Are Digital Assets Anyway?
    5. Chapter 9: Back to the Future: Getting a Grip on Futures and Options
      1. Taking the Mystery out of Futures and Options
      2. The Future Looks Bright: How to Trade Futures Contracts
      3. For a Few Dollars Less: Trading Futures on Margin
      4. Taking a Pulse: Figuring Out Where the Futures Market Is Heading
      5. Keeping Your Options Open: Trading with Options
  7. Part 3: The Power House: How to Make Money in Energy
    1. Chapter 10: Keeping It Natural: Investing in Renewable Energy
      1. Always Brand-Spanking New: Getting to Know Renewable Energy
      2. Sunny Delight: Investing in Solar Energy
      3. Fast and Furious: Trading in Wind Energy
      4. Betting on Biomass
    2. Chapter 11: It’s a Crude, Crude World: Investing in Crude Oil
      1. Seeing the Crude Realities
      2. Going Up the Crude Chain
      3. Making Big Bucks with Big Oil
    3. Chapter 12: Welcome to Gas Vegas, Baby! Trading Natural Gas
      1. What’s the Use? Looking at Natural Gas Applications
      2. Liquefied Natural Gas: Getting Liquid without Getting Wet
      3. Investing in Natural Gas
    4. Chapter 13: Fuel for Thought: Looking at Alternative Energy Sources
      1. Digging Up New Energy Sources
      2. Reexamining King Coal: Not As Scary As You Think
      3. Investing in Nuclear Power: Going Nuclear without Going Ballistic
      4. You’ve Been Zapped! Trading Electricity
    5. Chapter 14: Totally Energized: Investing in Energy Companies
      1. Bull’s-Eye! Profiting from Oil Exploration and Production
      2. Oh My, You’re So Refined! Investing in Refineries
      3. Becoming an Oil Shipping Magnate
      4. The New Kids on the Block: EV Transportation Companies
  8. Part 4: Pedal to the Metal: Investing in Metals
    1. Chapter 15: All That Glitters: Investing in Gold, Silver, and Platinum
      1. Going for the Gold
      2. Get the Tableware Ready: Investing in Silver
      3. Getting a Sliver of Silver in Your Portfolio
      4. Bling Bling: Investing in Platinum
    2. Chapter 16: Metals That Prove Their Mettle: Steel, Aluminum, and Copper
      1. Building a Portfolio That’s as Strong as Steel
      2. Aluminum: Illuminating the Details
      3. Paying a Visit to Dr. Copper
    3. Chapter 17: Weighing Investments in Heavy and Not-So-Heavy Metals
      1. Palladium: Metal for the New Millennium
      2. Zinc and Grow Rich
      3. You Won’t Get Nickel and Dimed by Investing in Nickel
    4. Chapter 18: Mine Your Own Business: Unearthing the Top Mining Companies
      1. Considering Diversified Mining Companies
      2. Checking Out Specialized Mining Companies
      3. Making Money during the Mining Merger Mania
  9. Part 5: Going Down to the Farm: Trading Agricultural Products
    1. Chapter 19: Breakfast of Champions: Profiting from Coffee, Cocoa, Sugar, and Orange Juice
      1. Giving Your Portfolio a Buzz by Investing in Coffee
      2. Warming Up to Cocoa
      3. Investing in Sugar: Such a Sweet Move!
      4. Orange Juice: Refreshingly Good for Your Bottom Line
    2. Chapter 20: How to Gain from Grains: Trading Corn, Wheat, and Soybeans
      1. Field of Dreams: Investing in Corn
      2. Welcome to the Breadbasket: Investing in Wheat
      3. It’s Not Just Peanuts: Trading Soybeans
    3. Chapter 21: Alive and Kicking! Making Money Trading Livestock
      1. Holy Cow! Investing in Cattle
      2. Lean and Mean: Checking Out Lean Hogs
      3. You Want Bacon with That? Trading Frozen Pork Bellies
  10. Part 6: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 22: Ten Investing Resources You Can’t Do Without
      1. The Wall Street Journal
      2. Bloomberg
      3. Commodities-Investors.com
      4. Morningstar
      5. Yahoo! Finance
      6. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
      7. The Energy Information Administration
      8. Stocks & Commodities Magazine
      9. Oil & Gas Journal
      10. National Futures Association
    2. Chapter 23: Top Ten Market Indicators You Should Monitor
      1. Consumer Price Index
      2. EIA Inventory Reports
      3. Federal Funds Rate
      4. Gross Domestic Product
      5. London Gold Fix
      6. Nonfarm Payrolls
      7. Purchasing Managers Index
      8. Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index
      9. U.S. Dollar
      10. WTI Crude Oil
    3. Chapter 24: Top Ten Commodity ETFs
      1. PowerShares DB Commodity Index
      2. iPath DJ-UBS Commodity Index
      3. United States Oil
      4. United States Natural Gas
      5. SPDR Gold Shares
      6. iShares Silver Trust
      7. iPath DJ-UBS Aluminum TR Sub-Index
      8. PowerShares DB Agriculture Long Index
      9. iPath DJ-UBS Coffee TR Subindex
      10. Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy
    4. Chapter 25: Top Ten Investment Vehicles for Commodities
      1. Futures Commission Merchant
      2. Commodity Trading Advisor
      3. Commodity Pool Operator
      4. Integrated Commodity Companies
      5. Specialized Commodity Companies
      6. Master Limited Partnerships
      7. Exchange Traded Funds
      8. Commodity Mutual Funds
      9. Commodity Indexes
      10. Emerging Market Funds
  11. Glossary
  12. Index
  13. About the Author
  14. Connect with Dummies
  15. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Commodities For Dummies, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): Amine Bouchentouf
  • Release date: March 2023
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781394155156