Commodities: Oil, Gas, Metals & Agriculture
Learn how the main commodity markets work, from crude oil, gas and power to industrial metals and crops, how to read the key supply and demand reports, and what futures curves, products and supply shocks mean for the returns and risks you actually face.
Self-study course Self-study course: written lessons, videos and downloadable materials for independent learning. There is no supervision, assessment, individual feedback or tutoring. Self-check quizzes are evaluated automatically in your browser — we do not see your results.
All 13 lessons free
Before you start
- Basic knowledge of futures, contango and backwardation (covered in the Derivatives course)
- Comfort with percentages, unit conversions and simple spreadsheets
- Know how position sizing and stop-losses work (covered in the Risk Management course)
What you will be able to do
- Convert commodity prices between units and currencies and price a physical cargo from a benchmark and its differentials
- Explain the main supply and demand drivers of crude oil, natural gas, power, industrial metals and agricultural goods
- Read EIA, IEA and USDA reports and calculate inventory surprises and stocks-to-use ratios
- Calculate roll yield and split a futures-based return into spot, roll and collateral return
- Compare commodity ETCs, broad indices and producer shares by structure, costs and risks
- Build a commodity watchlist, a research routine and risk rules that account for volatility, limit moves and gaps
Lessons in this course
What commodities are: physical goods, standardisation and who trades them
Understand what makes a good a commodity, how exchange contracts standardise it, how real cargoes are priced against benchmarks, and who trades them.
Crude oil: Brent vs WTI, OPEC+, inventories and the oil price
Learn how crude quality, the Brent and WTI benchmarks, OPEC+ spare capacity, inventories and refinery margins drive the oil price.
Natural gas and electricity: seasonality, storage and European gas hubs (TTF)
Learn how gas is priced at TTF and Henry Hub, why storage and seasons matter, how EU storage rules work, and how gas and carbon set power prices.
Industrial metals: copper, aluminium, nickel and the economic cycle
Understand what drives copper, aluminium and nickel, how the LME works, and how spreads and warehouse stocks signal tightness.
Agricultural commodities: grains, softs, weather and harvest reports
Learn how crop calendars, area, yield, weather and stocks-to-use drive grain and soft commodity prices, and how to read weekly crop data.
Supply and demand reports: EIA, IEA, USDA and how to read them
Learn when the key oil, gas and crop reports are published and how to read EIA weekly data and WASDE balance sheets against expectations.
Commodity futures curves in practice: roll yield and what ETC investors really earn
Split a futures-based return into spot, roll and collateral return, calculate roll yield, and see why ETC results differ from the spot price.
Commodity ETCs and broad commodity indices: structure and costs
Understand how ETCs, ETNs and commodity index ETFs are built, how broad commodity indices are weighted, and what a product really costs a euro investor.
Commodity producers' shares versus the commodity itself
Learn why mining and energy shares do not move one-to-one with the commodity, and how to measure operating leverage and the effect of hedging.
Commodities and inflation: what history does and does not show
Separate the real links between commodity prices and inflation from popular myths, using real prices, CPI weights and historical episodes.
Geopolitics and supply shocks: sanctions, wars and trade routes
Analyse a geopolitical event with a four-question framework, estimate rerouting costs and understand why risk premiums can disappear quickly.
Risk management for commodity trading: volatility, limit moves and gaps
Size commodity positions using contract values, gap scenarios and price limits, and learn the specific risks of commodity futures and CFDs.
Building a commodity watchlist and research routine
Build a focused commodity watchlist with driver cards, a weekly data calendar, positioning data and spread indicators, and turn it into a repeatable routine.
Bonds & Fixed Income in Depth
Continue with the course "Bonds & Fixed Income in Depth" to learn how interest rates, inflation expectations and credit risk are priced, which also explains the collateral return inside commodity index products.
View course outline