There’s seemingly an endless number of ways in which people are able to invest these days. However despite the fact that there are so many options, one of the most tried and true methods of investing is to invest in commodities. Commodities are something that people can understand. They are tangible assets that people can envision being traded and owned.
Commodity trading continues to be an exciting way to invest and has allowed a lot of people to make a lot of money over the years. If you are new to commodities there are things you should know.
Soft Commodities
Soft commodities refer to commodities trading for things that are grown. While the most popular commodities are often hard commodities, there are plenty of great soft commodities that are available for trade. Livestock are traded constantly and items like coffee, cocoa and soybeans are traded for great benefit. Soft commodities also include corn, sugar and fruit and vegetable productions.,
Hard Commodities
Hard commodities are the opposite of soft commodities. Hard commodities are generally mined from the earth. They have a finite amount in the earth and they can not be replenished once they are taken from it. Trading in oil and gold are two of the most popular commodities in the world and have been some of the best investments historically. Silver is also one of the most popular hard commodities that is traded on the market today.
Futures
Future trading is very important to soft commodities. Futures trading involves an agreement to pay a certain price in the future for a commodity delivered then. Futures trading involves a fair amount of risk. Future prices can fluctuate heavily sometimes. Technically in futures trading, one side or another has been known to walk away from a deal if they stand to lose or make a huge sum of money. Because of this, a lot of futures contracts will margins placed with a third party to ensure they follow through on the deal.
Options
Options are a very interesting way to control a very large amount of commodities without having to actually pay for those trades. When it comes to options, the owner has paid a price to have the right to purchase an item at a price in the future. They are not forced to go through with the purchase. The seller of an option must provide the goods ascribed in the deal or face severe penalties if the buyer chooses to go through with the sale at the price ascribed.
There are two types of options. The type described so far is referred to as a call option. That gives the option owner the right to purchase at the agreed to price. There are also put options. These options work in the reverse, and the owner of the option has the right to sell the commodity at the agreed upon price.
Another interesting aspect of options is that they can be sold on the secondary market. This means that if you purchase an option and someone sees some more potential there, they can purchase your options and then have the right to complete the transaction at a later date.
Online Investment and Trading
By investing online, many people have taken control of their investments in a way that wasn’t available 20 to 30 years ago. No longer do people need to pay high fees to wealth managers. There’s a downside to online investments and trading however. They require additional time and effort. Not putting in the time can lead to mistakes and losses that might have been avoided by a dedicated financial professional. However, when people are willing to put in the time, online investing can save a lot of cash in fees.
