![]() | submitted by /u/SinnesMufti [link] [comments] |
Let's discuss commodities; With the latest Enron situation, it is important to understand the way things work. A commodity is anything useful, especially a transportable agricultural product or mining product. This comes from the Latin word "commoditas" meaning roughly advantage, convenience. So then what is a commodity? Well we consider Gold, Silver, wheat, corn, pork bellies, coffee, etc all commodities. If you look in the back of the WSJ or Investors Business Daily you will see a listing of all the commodities traded on the commodities exchange. Enron made some errors no doubt, but let's not judge all commodity markets in haste. Commodity trading works best when there is a stable instrument of trade. Sometimes the instrument of trade is actually the commodity. If you looked most countries of the world today you would find that there are three basic instruments of trade; money, as in currency, precious metals and gems, drugs; like cocaine, opium, and