Among traders, one asset class that has seen volatility through its trading hours is the commodities market. It makes a very profitable portfolio, and provides immense opportunities for lucrative monetary rewards when you trade them with popular brokerages like eToro. The eToro trading app allows its users to invest on various assets including these popular commodities online and even has a copy trading feature where they can follow and execute orders of more experienced users in their social investment network.
What makes this more interesting is that heavily-traded commodities present a venue to make money, especially when there is a lot of movement in prices. And you can be sure that there is always one trader investing in oil, corn or wheat as these are one of the staples where every human subsists on.
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Crude Oil
Crude oil is one important asset that is a heavily-traded commodity. Contracts where traders commonly speculate on involve crude oil. Its price is designated in dollars per barrel and can only be traded on certain times: from 4:00 GMT to 20:30 GMT. The most common type offered by most brokers is the Brent crude, characterized as sweet light crude, and is being traded in the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
In an industry where volatility is a constant attribute, oil prices are determined by supply and demand which presents opportunities to make a handsome profit for commodity traders. A basic understanding of how the petroleum market works is essential, along with factors that affect its price movement such as major decisions by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), political conflicts in countries that are major producers of oil and the use of technical analysis to accurately predict the price direction it has to take.
Corn
Widely-known as maize, corn is a necessary part of our diet and a major staple generally used in the food manufacturing industry. Aside from its role in food consumption, starch produced from maize can be used as a renewable energy that contributes to the green revolution. Its grains and leaves can be harnessed to produce bio fuels. Just like other major commodities, there is an increasing number of brokers that offer corn on their roster of assets and this agricultural type of commodity is quite becoming a favorite of many investors.
The price of corn is set according to both local and global developments in the commodities market. Rapid changes in prices are associated with weather conditions, as well as the demand for it in relation to its importance as a source of bio fuel. Note that price swings are not a usual facet of corn intraday trading.
Wheat
Wheat is a major ingredient in baked and dried foods. It makes up for a strong demand in the commodities market as it is usually traded in high volumes by food manufacturers. There are different factors that come into play when determining its price, such as the weather conditions of wheat-producing countries, as well as certain legislations governing its market which impacts how it is priced; and should be considered by every investor interested to trade on wheat.