Acknowledgements
Contributors
1 Commodity Fundamentals
Commodities are an asset class in their own right
Range of commodity investments
Market developments and global drivers
Commodity prices and their effect on financial markets
Market participants
How commodities differ from other assets
Economics of commodities: spot and forward transactions
Forward curves: contango and backwardation
Understanding the ‘basis’
Commodity trading, hedging, arbitrage
Commodity indices
2 Key Commodity Derivatives
Background and context
Market Fundamentals
Market fundamentals: exchange traded v. OTC derivatives markets
The major commodities exchanges
Exchange traded futures
Exchange traded options
OTC commodities derivatives
OTC commodities options (caps)
OTC commodities swaps
Regulatory reform
3 Oil
Steve McBain
Background and context
Crude oil production
Crude oil consumption
Crude oil refining
Geopolitics
OPEC
Definitions and key features
Oil reserves
Oil uses and applications
Oil pricing and price discovery
Freighting
Hedging and risk management
Environmental concerns
Future market developments
4 Gas
With featured section on natural gas trading, by Victoria Adams
Background and context
What is natural gas?
Gas measurements
Natural gas formation
Natural gas reserves
Natural gas producers
Liquefied natural gas (LNG)
Shale gas
Gas pricing and price discovery
Trading natural gas
‘Prompt’ and ‘curve’ markets
Spot trading and balancing
Exchange trading
5 Coal
Background and context
Range of coals
Mining and production
World production and reserves
Coal pricing and price discovery
Exchange traded markets
Trading with coal futures
Environmental concerns
Coal and carbon issues
6 Alternative Energy
Background and context
Measurements of electricity
Energy definitions
Hydropower
Wind power
Solar power
Biofuels
Geothermal power
7 Carbon and Environmental Commodities
Andrew Pisano
Background and context
Economics of climate change
An overview of emissions trading
Emissions trading schemes
Pricing and price discovery – supply and demand
Hedging and trading
The future of emissions trading
8 Precious Metals
Jeffrey Rhodes
Introduction – a personal view
Background and context: London Bullion Market
Bullion accounts
Supply and demand
Producers and consumers
Pricing and price discovery
Hedging and trading instruments
Technical analysis
Glossary of terms for bullion markets
9 Base Metals
Fabrice Tayot
Background and context
The mining lifecycle
Rehabilitation and environmental concerns
Characteristics, supply and demand of key base metals:
Pricing and price discovery
Risk management and derivatives
Outlook
10 Rare Earth Elements
Background and context
Definition and key features
Supply and demand
World production and reserves
Importance of China
Importance of rare earth elements in today’s markets
Defence uses of rare earth elements<
