Commodity Market Trading and Investment


Book Description

This book offers practical knowledge, analysis, trading techniques and methodologies required for the management of key international commodities. The author explores each aspect of commodity trading in detail and helps the reader to implement effective techniques to build a strong portfolio. Early chapters set the current scene of commodity trading markets before going on to discuss the fundamental instruments and tools used in navigating commodity markets. The author provides detailed, empirical case studies of traded natural resources in order to explicate the financial instruments that enable professionals both to invest and to trade them successfully. Later chapters investigate the psychology and behavioural influences behind optimal market trading, in which the author encourages the reader to understand and combat the obstacles that prevent them from reaching their full trading potential.




Commodity Option Pricing


Book Description

Commodity Option Pricing: A Practitioner’s Guide covers commodity option pricing for quantitative analysts, traders or structurers in banks, hedge funds and commodity trading companies. Based on the author’s industry experience with commodity derivatives, this book provides a thorough and mathematical introduction to the various market conventions and models used in commodity option pricing. It introduces the various derivative products typically traded for commodities and describes how these models can be calibrated and used for pricing and risk management. This book has been developed with input from traders and features examples using real-world data, together with relevant up-to-date academic research. This book includes practical descriptions of market conventions and quote codes used in commodity markets alongside typical products seen in broker quotes and used in calibration. Also discussed are commodity models and their mathematical derivation and volatility surface modelling for traded commodity derivatives. Gold, silver and other precious metals are addressed, including gold forward and gold lease rates, as well as copper, aluminium and other base metals, crude oil and natural gas, refined energy and electricity. There are also sections on the products encountered in commodities such as crack spread and spark spread options and alternative commodities such as carbon emissions, weather derivatives, bandwidth and telecommunications trading, plastics and freight. Commodity Option Pricing is ideal for anyone working in commodities or aiming to make the transition into the area, as well as academics needing to familiarize themselves with the industry conventions of the commodity markets.




COMMODITY FINANCE -- 2ND EDITION


Book Description

Very few books published so far have touched upon commodity finance and fewer still have provided a systematic explanation and analysis of the subject. It is however a subject that is relevant throughout almost every corner of the world. From food to gold, commodities are ubiquitous. In this book, Dr. W. Huang, a practitioner and a trainer, covers commodities, commodity markets, commodity trade and the finance of commodity trade. As such, practitioners such as bankers and traders in commodity finance, and those institutions operating in this field, or planning to be active in this field, will all benefit from this book. This revised and updated second edition is a hands-on summary of commodity finance, with a special chapter dedicated to real-life case studies of commodity finance. Topics covered include: – High-level overview of commodity trade and finance. – The three major sectors of commodity finance: soft commodities, hard commodities and energy – Commodity finance and emerging markets, as most commodity export countries are emerging markets countries. – The special mechanisms and products of commodity finance, from plain vanilla products to more complicated structures. The concept of Supply Chain Finance is also covered in detail. – Bank and country risk. – Risk management principles, with practical case studies. – The organization of a typical commodity finance bank. The key benefits of the book are: For bankers – how to do business and what risks should be watched for? For traders, brokers and institutional investors – how commodity finance is done and what bank instruments can be used. For students – how is commodity finance handled and developed by banks? Each chapter can be read independently. The content has been reviewed by both experts and newcomers, incorporating their comments on style and content, to ensure it is as useful and clear as possible.




Foreign Exchange Option Pricing


Book Description

This book covers foreign exchange options from the point of view of the finance practitioner. It contains everything a quant or trader working in a bank or hedge fund would need to know about the mathematics of foreign exchange—not just the theoretical mathematics covered in other books but also comprehensive coverage of implementation, pricing and calibration. With content developed with input from traders and with examples using real-world data, this book introduces many of the more commonly requested products from FX options trading desks, together with the models that capture the risk characteristics necessary to price these products accurately. Crucially, this book describes the numerical methods required for calibration of these models – an area often neglected in the literature, which is nevertheless of paramount importance in practice. Thorough treatment is given in one unified text to the following features: Correct market conventions for FX volatility surface construction Adjustment for settlement and delayed delivery of options Pricing of vanillas and barrier options under the volatility smile Barrier bending for limiting barrier discontinuity risk near expiry Industry strength partial differential equations in one and several spatial variables using finite differences on nonuniform grids Fourier transform methods for pricing European options using characteristic functions Stochastic and local volatility models, and a mixed stochastic/local volatility model Three-factor long-dated FX model Numerical calibration techniques for all the models in this work The augmented state variable approach for pricing strongly path-dependent options using either partial differential equations or Monte Carlo simulation Connecting mathematically rigorous theory with practice, this is the essential guide to foreign exchange options in the context of the real financial marketplace.




The New Commodity Trading Guide


Book Description

“I’ve been trading stocks and commodities for more than 30 years, and I’ve read any number of how-to books, but George Kleinman’s The New Commodity Trading Guide is as clear, precise, and useful as any book I’ve come across during my career. I cannot recommend it strongly enough, if for no other reason than George finally explains ‘The Voice from the Tomb’ better than any of the old guard at the CBOT. Read it and reap.”--Dennis Gartman, editor/publisher The Gartman Letter, L.C. “Commodities present great financial opportunity and, as every hedge fund and trader has experienced, great risk. This book shows how to use commodity trading and volatility to capture excess profits while limiting losses. These lessons are as critical for investors as they are for traders, as we are likely to be in a volatile trading environment for the foreseeable future.”--Daniel J. Dart, private investor and COO, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, Third Party Group (retired) “George Kleinman’s book has just the right blend of practical trading wisdom, technical charting, and fundamental analysis. It’s full of revealing discussions about seasonal trading patterns and long term trends. But most importantly it presents a balanced view that honestly reveals both the difficulties and advantages of being a private commodities trader. There’s something here for both experienced investors and beginners interested in learning from a seasoned expert.”--Jeff Augen, author of The Volatility Edge in Options Trading and Trading Options at Expiration “I highly recommend George Kleinman’s The New Commodity Trading Guide. George’s insights, the result of 25 years of successful trading experience, are explained in a way that a new trader can grasp and, at the same time, an experienced trader can translate into his own trading. Best of all, George presents many of his own creative trading methods including his Natural Number Method, explained for the first time in this book.”--Jeff Quinto, president of Transformative Trading and futures trading coach “Since leaving the trading floor, George is one of the few people I still talk to about the markets, and this book clearly shows why. He is able to take classic time-tested methods of technical analysis and adapt them to the conditions faced by today’s electronic traders.”--Andrew Stanton, 20-year veteran of the NY trading floors Over the long term, commodities prices are expected to rise based on massive increases in global demand. But, as many investors have discovered the hard way, merely knowing this is not enough to make consistent profits. Fundamental changes in the commodities markets have occurred that have implications most investors do not understand. For instance, century-old “open outcry” trading floors have now been replaced with computerized trading. In The New Commodity Trading Guide, commodities expert George Kleinman reveals the new practical realities of worldwide electronic commodities trading and specific strategies for capitalizing on today’s radically different markets. Kleinman shows how to leverage the one indicator that consistently drives commodity prices today...introduces the right ways to trade on news and profit from trends...reveals consistent seasonal price shifts that mean huge profits...shows which conventional strategies still work (and which don’t!). Finally, he introduces the Natural Number Method, a breakthrough approach that any commodities trader can use to supercharge performance! Capturing the 5000% return What you can learn from one of history’s fastest price moves “Breaking par”: how you can profit from market psychology How to make profitable trades right after market barriers are shattered The trend’s your friend--if you know how to use it Discover the best times to go with the flow Why markets behave differently at significant break points... ...and how to use that knowledge to make big profits What hasn’t changed--and how you can profit from it Two classic chart patterns that continue to work!




Pricing and Hedging Financial Derivatives


Book Description

The only guide focusing entirely on practical approaches to pricing and hedging derivatives One valuable lesson of the financial crisis was that derivatives and risk practitioners don't really understand the products they're dealing with. Written by a practitioner for practitioners, this book delivers the kind of knowledge and skills traders and finance professionals need to fully understand derivatives and price and hedge them effectively. Most derivatives books are written by academics and are long on theory and short on the day-to-day realities of derivatives trading. Of the few practical guides available, very few of those cover pricing and hedging—two critical topics for traders. What matters to practitioners is what happens on the trading floor—information only seasoned practitioners such as authors Marroni and Perdomo can impart. Lays out proven derivatives pricing and hedging strategies and techniques for equities, FX, fixed income and commodities, as well as multi-assets and cross-assets Provides expert guidance on the development of structured products, supplemented with a range of practical examples Packed with real-life examples covering everything from option payout with delta hedging, to Monte Carlo procedures to common structured products payoffs The Companion Website features all of the examples from the book in Excel complete with source code




Commodity Derivatives


Book Description

Commodity Derivatives: A Guide for Future Practitioners describes the origins and uses of these important markets. Commodities are often used as inputs in the production of other products, and commodity prices are notoriously volatile. Derivatives include forwards, futures, options, and swaps; all are types of contracts that allow buyers and sellers to establish the price at one time and exchange the commodity at another. These contracts can be used to establish a price now for a purchase or sale that will occur later, or establish a price later for a purchase or sale now. This book provides detailed examples for using derivatives to manage prices by hedging, using futures, options, and swaps. It also presents strategies for using derivatives to speculate on price levels, relationships, volatility, and the passage of time. Finally, because the relationship between a commodity price and a derivative price is not constant, this book examines the impact of basis behaviour on hedging results, and shows how the basis can be bought and sold like a commodity. The material in this book is based on the author’s 30-year career in commodity derivatives, and is essential reading for students planning careers as commodity merchandisers, traders, and related industry positions. Not only does it provide them with the necessary theoretical background, it also covers the practical applications that employers expect new hires to understand. Examples are coordinated across chapters using consistent prices and formats, and industry terminology is used so students can become familiar with standard terms and concepts. This book is organized into 18 chapters, corresponding to approximately one chapter per week for courses on the semester system.




Trading Commodities and Financial Futures


Book Description

As an asset class, commodities are now as important as stocks and bonds – and with rapid growth in demand, profit opportunities in commodities are larger than ever. But today’s computer-driven markets are volatile and chaotic. Fortunately, you can profit consistently – and this tutorial will show you how. Building on more than 30 years of market success, George Kleinman introduces powerful trend-based techniques for consistently trading in your “sweet spot” for profits. Kleinman reveals exactly how the commodities markets have changed – and how you can use consistent discipline to avoid “shark-infested waters” and manage the market’s most dangerous risks. Ideal for every beginning-to-intermediate level trader, speculator, and investor, this guide begins with the absolute basics, and takes you all the way to highly-sophisticated strategies. You’ll discover how futures and options trading work today, how trading psychology impacts commodity markets even in an age of high-frequency computer trading, and how to avoid the latest pitfalls. Kleinman offers extensively updated coverage of electronic trading, today’s contracts, and advanced trading techniques – including his exclusive, powerful Pivot Indicator approach. Three previous editions of this tutorial have become international best-sellers. But the game has changed. Win it the way it’s played right now, with Trading Commodities and Financial Futures, Fourth Edition.




Principles of Commodity Economics and Finance


Book Description

A rigorous but practical introduction to the economic, financial, and political principles underlying commodity markets. Commodities have become one of the fastest growing asset classes of the last decade and the object of increasing attention from investors, scholars, and policy makers. Yet existing treatments of the topic are either too theoretical, ignoring practical realities, or largely narrative and nonrigorous. This book bridges the gap, striking a balance between theory and practice. It offers a solid foundation in the economic, financial, and political principles underlying commodities markets. The book, which grows out of courses taught by the author at Columbia and Johns Hopkins, can be used by graduate students in economics, finance, and public policy, or as a conceptual reference for practitioners. After an introduction to basic concepts and a review of the various types of commodities—energy, metals, agricultural products—the book delves into the economic and financial dynamics of commodity markets, with a particular focus on energy. The text covers fundamental demand and supply for resources, the mechanics behind commodity financial markets, and how they motivate investment decisions around both physical and financial portfolio exposure to commodities, and the evolving political and regulatory landscape for commodity markets. Additional special topics include geopolitics, financial regulation, and electricity markets. The book is divided into thematic modules that progress in complexity. Text boxes offer additional, related material, and numerous charts and graphs provide further insight into important concepts.