Ebook: Commodities For Dummies

pt. III. The power house: how to make money in energy -- 10. It's a crude, crude world: investing in crude oil -- Seeing the crude realities -- Examining global reserve estimates -- Looking at production figures -- Checking out demand figures -- Eyeing imports and exports -- Going up the crude chain -- Making big bucks with big oil -- Oil companies -- Investing overseas -- 11. Welcome to Gas Vegas, baby! Trading natural gas -- Looking at natural gas applications -- Industrial uses of natural gas -- Natural gas in your home -- Natural gas's commercial uses -- Generating electricity with natural gas -- Natural gas and transportation -- Liquefied natural gas -- Investing in natural gas -- Trading nat gas futures -- Nat gas companies: the natural choice -- 12. Keeping it natural: investing in renewable energy -- Getting to know renewable energy -- Investing in solar energy -- Trading in wind energy -- Betting on biomass -- 13. Fuel for thought: looking at alternative energy sources -- Digging up new energy sources -- Reexamining King coal: not as scary as you think -- Coal hard facts -- Paint it black -- Investing in nuclear power -- Uranium equities -- Uranium ETF -- Uranium futures -- Trading electricity -- Brushing up on current affairs -- Investing in the power industry -- 14. Totally energized: investing in energy companies -- Profiting from oil exploration and production -- Going offshore -- Staying on dry land -- Servicing the oil fields -- Investing in refineries -- Becoming an oil shipping magnate -- Transportation supply and demand -- Crude oil ships ahoy! -- Petroleum shipping companies -- Avoiding industry risk.;pt. IV. Pedal to the metal: investing in metals -- 15. All that glitters: investing in gold, silver, and platinum -- Getting to know the gold standard -- Finding ways to invest in gold -- Investing in silver -- Investing in platinum -- 16. Metals that prove their mettle: steel, aluminum, and copper -- Building a portfolio that's as strong as steel -- Steely facts -- Investing in steel companies -- Aluminum: Illuminating the details -- Just the aluminum facts -- aluminum futures -- Aluminum companies -- Paying a visit to Dr. Copper -- Quick copper facts -- Copper futures contracts -- Copper companies -- 17. Weighing investments in heavy and not-so-heavy metals -- Palladium: metal for the new millennium -- Zinc and grow rich -- You won't get nickel and dimed by investing in nickel -- 18. Mine your own business: unearthing the top mining companies -- Considering diversified mining companies -- BHP Billiton -- Rio Tinto -- Anglo-American -- Checking out specialized mining companies -- Newmont Mining: gold -- Silver Wheaton: silver -- Freeport McMoRan: copper -- Alcoa: aluminum -- Arcelor-Mittal: steel -- Making money during the mining merger mania.;pt. VI. The part of tens -- 22. Ten or so investing resources you can't do without -- The Wall Street Journal -- Bloomberg -- Commodities-Investors.com -- Nightly Business Report -- Morningstar -- Yahoo!Finance -- Commodity Futures Trading Commission -- The Energy Information Administration -- Stocks and Commodities Magazine -- Oil & Gas Journal -- National Futures Association -- 23. Top ten market indicators you should monitor -- Consumer Price Index -- EIA Inventory Reports -- Federal Funds Rate -- Gross Domestic Product -- London Gold Fix -- Nonfarm payrolls -- Purchasing Managers Index -- Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index -- U.S. dollar -- WTI Crude Oil -- 24. Top ten commodity ETFs -- PowerShares DB Commodity Index -- iPath DJ-UBS Commodity Index -- United States Oil -- United States Natural Gas -- SPDR Gold Shares -- iShares Silver Trust -- iPath DJ-UBS Aluminum TR Sub-index -- PowerShares DB Agriculture Long Index -- iPath DJ-UBS Coffee TR subindex -- Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy -- 25. Top ten investment vehicles for commodities -- Futures commission merchant -- Commodity trading advisor -- Commodity pool operator -- Integrated commodity companies -- Specialized commodity companies -- Master limited partnerships -- Exchange traded funds -- Commodity mutual funds -- Commodity indexes -- Emerging market funds.;A hands-on guide that gives you the basics on breaking into the commodities market. Learn to diversity your portfolio, measure risk, and apply market analysis techniques.;Introduction -- pt. I. Commodities: just the facts -- 1. Investors, start your engines! An overview of commodities -- Defining commodities and their investment characteristics -- Going for a spin: choosing the right investment vehicle -- The futures market -- the equity markets -- Managed funds -- Physical commodity purchases -- Checking out what's on the menu -- Energy -- Metals -- Agricultural products -- 2. Earn, baby, earn! Why you should invest in commodities -- You can't argue with success -- Why the 21st Century is the century of commodities -- Ka-boom! Capitalizing on the global population explosion -- Brick by brick: profiting from urbanization -- Full steam ahead! Benefiting from industrialization -- What makes commodities unique -- Gaining from inelasticity -- Finding a safe haven -- Hedging against inflation -- Taking time to bring new sources online -- Sell in May and go away? Definitely nay! -- Time to get down to business: commodities and the business cycle -- 3. Investing in commodities: only for the brave? -- Biting off more than you can chew: the pitfalls of using leverage -- Watch your step: understanding the real risks behind commodities -- Sovereign government risk -- Geopolitical risk -- Speculative risk -- Corporate governance risk -- Tracking commodities and the 2008 global financial crisis -- Origins of the crisis -- Overview of the crisis -- Managing risk -- Due diligence: just do it -- Diversify, diversify, diversify -- 4. Feel the love: welcoming commodities into your portfolio -- The color of money: taking control of your financial life -- Looking ahead: creating a financial map -- Figuring out your net worth -- Identifying your tax bracket -- Determining your appetite for risk -- Making room in your portfolio for commodities -- Fully exposed: the top ways to get exposure to commodities -- Looking toward the future with commodity futures -- Funding your account with commodity funds -- You're in good company: investing in commodity companies.;pt. II. Getting started with types of investment vehicles -- 5. Benefiting from exchange-traded funds -- Getting to know ETFs -- Accessing a variety of commodity markets through ETFs -- Taking a look at leveraged ETFs -- 6. Track and trade: investing through commodity indexes -- Checking out commodity indexes -- Why indexes are useful -- How to make money by using an index -- From head to toe: uncovering the anatomy of a commodity index -- Cataloging the five major indexes -- the S & P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index -- Reuters/Jefferies Commodity Research Bureau Index -- Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index -- Rogers International Commodities Index -- Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index -- Determining which index to use -- 7. Show me the money! Choosing the right manager -- Mutually beneficial: investing in commodity mutual funds -- Asking the right questions -- Taking a look at what's out there -- Mastering MLPs -- The ABCs of MLPs --Cash flow is king -- The nuts and bolts of MLP investing -- Risk and MLPs -- Relying on a commodity trading advisor -- Jumping into a commodity pool -- 8. Exploring commodity exchanges, brokers, and trading accounts -- Why do we have commodities exchanges, anyway? -- Identifying the major commodity exchanges -- Opening an account and placing orders -- Owning a piece of an exchange -- 9. Back to the future: getting a grip on futures and options -- Taking the mystery out of futures and options -- How to trade futures contracts -- Who trades futures? -- Keeping track of all the moving pieces -- Trading futures on margin -- Figuring out where the futures market is heading --Trading with options -- Understanding trader talk.;pt. V. Going down to the farm: trading agricultural products -- 19. Breakfast of champions: profiting from coffee, cocoa, sugar, and orange juice -- Giving your portfolio a buzz by investing in coffee -- Coffee: it's time for your big break -- The coffee futures contract: it may be your cup of tea -- Ordering up investments in gourmet coffee shops -- Warming up to cocoa -- Investing in sugar: such a sweet move! -- Orange juice: refreshingly good for your bottom line -- 20. How to gain from grains: trading corn, wheat, and soybeans -- Field of dreams: investing in corn -- Welcome to the bread basket: investing in wheat -- It's not just peanuts: trading soybeans -- Soybeans -- Soybean oil -- Soybean meal -- 21. Alive and kicking! Making money trading livestock -- Holy Cow! Investing in cattle -- Live cattle -- Feeder cattle -- Lean and mean: checking out lean hogs -- You want bacon with that? Trading frozen pork bellies.