Understanding Commodity Markets & Commodity Trading Training Course

This course provides a complete practical overview of commodities, the principal price drivers in both the physical and on the exchanges, producer, manufacturer and user supply/demand characteristics and pricing.

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Introduction to the Commodity Markets

• Overview of the commodity markets
• Major price drivers
• Fund managers & commodities
• Correlations
• The markets
  – Energy
  – Base metals
  – Precious metals
  – Agriculturals (Ags)
• Spot and forward markets
  – Contango & backwardation
• Futures & options
• Trading options
• Trading on margin

The Energy Markets

• Understanding oil & energy
• Macro-economic events
• Geo-political risk
• OPEC & non-OPEC production
• The energy exchanges
  – ICE
  – NYMEX
  – CBOT
  – TOCOM
• Energy Products
  – Crude oil
  – Heating oil
  – RBOB
  – Unleaded fuel
  – Natural gas
• Trading & trading strategies
  – Spread trades
  – Energy futures
  – Forward curve
  – Energy swaps

Understanding the Base Metals

• About base metals
• Price drivers
• The exchanges
  – The LME
         * ITS operations
         * Gradings
         * Warehouse stocks and inventories
  – COMEX
• Base metals
  – Aluminium
  – Copper
  – Lead
  – Nickel
  – Tin
  – Zinc
  – Re-cycled steel
• Trading & trading strategies
  – The cycle (miner/producer/consumer)
  – Spot and forward trades

The Mechanics of Gold and Precious Metals

• Understanding gold
  – Production, consumption & storage
  – Forward gold market
  – ETFs and derivatives
  – Gold mines index
  – IMF & central banks
• Silver & PGMs
  – Industrial uses
  – Supply/demand
• Rare earth elements

Getting to Grips with Agriculturals

• Overview of Ags
  – Grains & oil seeds
  – Softs
  – Meat & livestock
• Price drivers & seasonality
• Weather
• Trade associations & government control
• The products
  – Grains & oil seeds
         * Wheat
         * Corn
         * Maize
         * Oats
         * Soya bean oil & meal
  – Softs
        * Coffee
        * Cocoa
        * Cotton
        * Sugar
  – Orange juice
  – Meat & livestock
        * Lean hogs
        * Frozen pork bellies
        * Live cattle
        * Feeder cattle
• Market reports
• Price drivers
• Producer/retail hedging

Trading Commodities on Fundamentals

• Global markets & supply & demand
• Economic growth
• Natural & man-made disasters
• Producer data and inventories

Trading Commodities with Charts

• Why does anyone use charts?
• Understanding your data
• Types of chart
• Analysis techniques
  – Support/resistance
  – Movings averages & Xovers
  – Stochastics & Oscillators
• Programme trading & money management

Your definitive guide to all the major commodity markets and their trading applications

With commodity markets reaching new highs and volatility increasing, this course aims to give an understanding to the major commodity markets and how to trade them. Over three intensive days you will learn:

• The characteristics and risks of the different commodity markets and how to capitalise on the different opportunities they present
• The rationale for investing and trading commodity products via the cash and futures market
• How to understand the benefits commodities offer as an alternative asset sector
• Practical trading strategies and techniques for the different commodity markets, including: base metals, softs, energy and precious metals
• How to optimise your use of commodity derivatives as a robust trading and hedging tool