20 articles in this subtopic.
How natural gas pricing works across regional hubs, with seasonal patterns that create predictable price swings of $1-3/MMBtu between winter and summer.
Understand livestock markets (cattle, hogs) and soft commodities (coffee, sugar, cocoa, cotton) including production cycles, major producers, and price drivers.
Understand futures curve shapes, how contango and backwardation affect roll yield, and what drives each market condition.
The cost-of-carry model ties futures to spot through storage, financing, and convenience yield, explaining contango, backwardation, and storage economics.
How refiners measure profitability through crack spreads, the formulas behind common spread calculations, and what drives refining margin volatility.
How the two dominant crude oil benchmarks differ in quality, delivery, and pricing, and why the spread between them matters for energy investors.
Learn how major commodity indexes are built, including weighting methods, roll mechanics, and return components that drive index performance.
Why copper prices signal economic health, with China consuming 50% of global supply and prices correlating strongly with manufacturing PMIs and GDP growth.
Most investors treat carbon markets as an ESG curiosity, something for sustainability reports and corporate pledges. That instinct is expensive.
How US electricity markets operate through regional grid operators, with prices ranging from $30/MWh in off-peak hours to $500+/MWh during peak demand events.
How chokepoints, sanctions, and supply disruptions affect global oil and gas prices.
Producers sell futures to lock in selling prices while consumers buy to cap costs; layered hedge ratios and governance keep programs from speculation.
Between 2009 and 2019, crude oil spot prices roughly doubled. Over that same period, USO—the largest oil ETF—lost money. Not underperformed. Lost money.
How the weekly EIA and API petroleum inventory reports influence oil prices, and what to watch when interpreting the data.
Gold trades on monetary policy and risk sentiment while copper tracks construction and manufacturing; the split defines demand, venues, and cycles.
Grain prices follow the crop calendar: pollination weather, WASDE reports, and futures-curve structure separate genuine supply threats from seasonal noise.
How OPEC+ production quotas interact with US shale economics, and why the balance between these two forces drives global oil prices.
Quick-reference definitions for essential commodity and energy market terminology.
The key regulators, position limits, and reporting requirements governing US commodity futures and physical energy markets.
How crude oil moves through the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments, and where value is created at each stage of the energy supply chain.
