Copyright 2006 Rafael Velez
Financial In Market Although it may sound frightening and risky to many investors,
if handled correctly, commodities could be the missing piece of an
investor's portfolio. What exactly are commodities? Commodities are
any mass goods traded on an exchange or in a cash market including:
cocoa, coffee, eggs, lumber, orange juice, soybeans and sugar just
to name a few. Industrial metals are also included with copper,
aluminum, zinc, nickel, silver, and lead ranking among the most
popular industrial metals holdings. Finally, the most widely
followed commodities include oil, natural gas and gold.
- How commodities stack up against other investment vehicles
- How to identify, manage, and overcome risk
- The pros and cons of futures, equities, ETFs and mutual funds
- Specific techniques for analyzing and trading in commodities
- Powerful profits in energy—crude oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, and alternatives
- What you need to know about trading in metals— precious
- How to grow your portfolio with farm products
Oriental Trading The diversification benefits equal or surpass those of other
asset classes like fixed income and
real
estate. The primary reason for this is their
correlation, or lack thereof, to the stock market as represented by
the S&P 500 (Correlation describes how similar the price
movement is between two investments). Commodities have historically
exhibited absolutely no correlation to the stock market or any of
the bond market indices. In fact, they have a negative correlation.
This non-similar pattern of performance allows an investor to
minimize volatility and protect capital in down markets. Overall,
these factors help to decrease overall risk in a portfolio of
investments. In short, commodities have historically been a good
compliment to a traditional stock, bond and real estate
portfolio.
In 2000, Chris passionately turned his focus to trading to the capital markets with a primary focus on currency trading. Chris was mentored in technical analysis and trading by one of the best fund managers, winner of the Daiken Award for best new fund for private equity, in the FX industry. Chris currently manages funds with his mentor and partner on behalf of exclusive private investors. Chris received his CTA (Commodity Trading Advisor) accreditation, which includes the Series 3 exam requirement and is registered with the National Futures Association.
Financial Forex Forex Software When commodities are utilized as a stand-alone investment,
commodities are relatively volatile, exhibiting wild price swings.
At times, they are also illiquid, prohibiting the investor from
exiting a position that is dropping rapidly. Another factor to be
aware of when investing in commodities is the unusual income
taxation. Most notably, investors are taxed each year on their
share of the profits, if there are profits, regardless of whether
the investment has been sold. This is a significant disadvantage
compared to investments in stocks, because one does not pay income
taxes until the stock is actually sold. Finally, fees to implement
a commodities strategy are significantly higher than for those of
traditional mutual funds, for example. For
these reasons, it is best to only consider 5-20% of one's portfolio
for this strategy.
Deep Discount Commodity Futures Trading Broker for independent trades. Our futures trading systems and platforms include charts, quotes, live P&L, instant reverse buttons, and other user friendly features. If you are looking for a discount broker with the support of full service commodity brokerage, Optimus trading group trading is the right choice for you.
Trading At a time when stocks and bonds are predicted by most academics
and investment gurus such as Warren Buffet, Bill Gross of PIMCO,
and Jeremy Grantham of Grantham, Mayer, and Van Otterloo, to
produce 5.0%
returns or less over the next
decade due to historically high market valuations. On a
historical basis, commodities are inexpensively priced and
substantial upside potential is possible. U.S. inflation is
historically low right now but with the effects of massive
fiscal, monetary policy and already robust consumer
spending, raw goods prices will
inevitably increase. When they do, commodity indices will
follow. As inflation gradually rises in 2006 and beyond,
industrial metals prices will rise as investors begin to direct
large amounts of money into these hard asset commodities. The
high correlation between commodities and inflation provide an
important hedge against considerable losses in traditional
financial instruments such as stocks and bonds.
Spot Gold and Silver are the most traded in a new range of spot tradable commodities, term speculative investing.
Trading Financial System In his recent book "Hot Commodities", author and renowned
investor Jim Rogers summed it up this way:
7.3 The orderer has to inform us immediately of possible access of third parties to the reserved commodity and the retired demands. He may only sell the reserved commodity only in the usual course of business to its normal trading conditions and so long he is not in delay, provided that the demands from the further sale reverts to us in accordance with section 7, 4 of our general trading agreements. He is not entitled to other control over the reserved commodity.
Day Trading The 1980's and 1990's saw a bear market in commodities. Prices
had fallen to levels (adjusted for inflation) not seen since the
Great Depression.
Forex Financial Trading The For 130 years, stocks and commodities have alternated leadership
in regular cycles averaging 18 years.
Fortune Make Option Trading The long bear market in commodities has created a sharp
reduction in capacity - and thus large supply-and-demand
imbalances.
Science Of Financial Market As economies in Asia continue to grow, there will be a strong
worldwide demand for all commodities.
Future Trading Historically, the prices of commodities show a negative
correlation to the prices moves of stocks, bonds and other
financial instruments.
Financial Sales Services Commodity prices can rise even when the economy is stuck in
reverse and their returns outpace inflation.
Commodity Trading The U.S. Federal Reserve and other banks in the world have been
pursuing a policy of debasing their paper currencies.
Financial Services Trading The U.S. Federal Reserve's policy of monetary stimulus and rapid
credit expansion will continue to push up the prices of hard assets
such as precious metals and other commodities.
Online Forex Trading History shows that war and political chaos only push commodities
prices higher.
Financial Portfolio Trade Commodities also provide a tactical play on the current weakness
in the U.S. Dollar. As other currencies such as the Euro and Yen
appreciate versus the dollar, foreign buyers can buy less goods
with the same amount of currency. This artificially increases
demand, and subsequently drives up the prices of commodities.
Currently, effects of this phenomenon can be seen best in the gold
and silver markets as prices have risen dramatically over the past
year.
Sierra Trading Post Commodities provide a play on globalization by their ability to
aid in the improvement of the global economy. This is due to the
fact that prices for industrial materials will increase as demand
for industrial goods increase. As countries such as China and other
emerging market economies develop, they will require more raw
materials. This is especially true for industrial metals. China
continues to develop at a rapid pace and consequently, their demand
for raw materials continues to rise. In fact, China's iron ore
demand has increased from 5% of the world's supply to almost 50%
over the past twelve years.
Trading Financial Future Commodities have proven to be excellent investments over the
last few years. There are a number of types of investment
vehicles to take advantage of this
great diversification play. Many of our client portfolios have
benefited from this recent performance. With only small allocations
to hard assets, most client portfolios have delivered returns that
were twice the performance of traditional stock and bond
portfolios.
Forex Trading Software Many experts agree that U.S. stocks and bonds will, in all
likelihood, generate significantly lower returns over the next
decade. Commodities on the other hand may have the potential for
the highest returns since the 1970s due to a worldwide economic
expansion especially from emerging market countries.
Trading Post
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Trading System Rafael Velez is the Managing Director of Summit Financial
Advisors, LLC ("SFA") in San Mateo, California. SFA provides
independent, coordinated and customized planning and investment
advice to successful families in the San Francisco Bay Area. They
specialize in developing tax-efficient strategies for retirement
income, concentrated stock positions and education planning. To
learn more about their services, go to:
http://www.summit-advisors.com
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