commodities market
Sign in to saveAlso known as energy trading
physical or virtual transactions of buying and selling involving raw or primary commodities
~31 min read
Article
Chicago Board of Trade Corn Futures market, 1993 Oil traders, New York City, 2009
A commodity market is a market that trades in the primary economic sector rather than manufactured products. The primary sector includes agricultural products, energy products, and metals. Soft commodities may be perishable and harvested, while hard commodities are usually mined, such as gold and oil. Futures contracts are the oldest way of investing in commodities. Commodity markets can include physical trading and derivatives trading using spot prices, forwards, futures, and options on futures. Farmers have used a simple form of derivative trading in the commodities market for centuries for price risk management.