THE SECRETS TO CAPITALIZING ON THE COMMODITIES BOOM

In the mid-1970s, when Bob Greer scrolled through miles of microfilm in the basement of a public library in order to record commodity prices in his yellow legal pad, the idea of commodities being an investable asset class was way outside the mainstream. Now, it's a multibilliondollar vehicle for achieving portfolio diversification and inflation hedging--and he and his colleagues have written the book on earning better returns than the indexes themselves

In "Intelligent Commodity Indexing," Bob joins his fellow leaders of PIMCO's Commodity Practice, Nic Johnson and Mihir Worah, in opening up commodity indexes. Never before has there been a more thorough explanation of how a commodity index works coupled with a powerful set of strategies for making it work for you. Inside, you'll find the most up-to-date tools and time-proven best practices for earning "structural alpha" by capitalizing on recurring risk and liquidity premiums in the commodities markets. It offers the right amount of history and theory to reinforce cuttingedge techniques for: Interpreting how seasonal effects change risk premia Choosing the most profitable market for specific commodity exposure Using intelligent commodity indexing to collect risk premiums in the options market Maximizing roll yield in order to increase long-term returns Managing risk, including specific frameworks and systems

Investors gain a superior advantage with this book's coverage of the nuts-and-bolts workings of various markets.

Praise for "Intelligent Commodity Indexing"

""A seminal work on an asset class that has grown in importance within institutional portfolios. The authors offer considerable insight to this complex asset class and provide investors with a thorough examination of the drivers of risk and return."" -- Julia K. Bonafede, CFA, President of Wilshire Consulting

""This is an excellent guide for professional investors to successful investing in commodity indexes."" -- Blythe Masters, Head of Global Commodities, JP Morgan

""A manual written by successful practitioners for intelligent commodity investors. An excellent guide which explains how this asset class complements and interacts with other investments."" -- Alan H. Van Noord, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System

""Commodities are invaluable tools for investors wishing to benefit from diversification and inflation hedging. For such an investor, this is the authoritative source to all you need to know about commodity indexing."" -- Mark Makepeace, Chief Executive, FTSE Group

""Greer, Johnson, and Worah simply explain the critical drivers to commodity index returns that have provided the main historical benefits of diversification and inflation protection. Every commodity index investor, or hopeful investor, should read this book and use it as a guide for evaluating the relevant index characteristics for benchmarking and investing, especially given recent industry innovations."" -- Jodie Gunzberg, CFA, Director-Commodities, S&P Indexes

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 ubiquitious. 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.

Commodity markets are integral to the global economy. Understanding what drives developments of these markets is critical to the design of policy frameworks that facilitate the economic objectives of sustainable growth, inflation stability, poverty reduction, food security, and the mitigation of climate change. This study is the first comprehensive analysis examining market and policy developments for all commodity groups, including energy, metals, and agriculture, over the past century. It finds that, while the quantity of commodities consumed has risen enormously, driven by population and income growth, the relative importance of commodities has shifted over time, as technological innovation created new uses for some materials and facilitated substitution among commodities. The study also shows that commodity markets are heterogeneous in terms of their drivers, price behavior, and macroeconomic impact on emerging markets and developing economies, and that the relationship between economic growth and commodity demand varies widely across countries, depending on their stage of economic development. Policy frameworks that enable countercyclical macroeconomic responses have become increasingly common-and beneficial. Other policy tools have had mixed outcomes.

They say John Maynard Keynes called gold a 'barbarous relic'. They say there isn't enough gold to support finance and commerce. They say the gold supply can't increase fast enough to support world growth. They're wrong. In The New Case for Gold, James Rickards explains why gold is one of the safest assets for investors in times of political instability and market volatility, and how every investor should look to add gold to his or her portfolio. Drawing on historical case studies, monetary theory and his personal experience as an investor, Rickards argues that gold should be a part of any prudent investor's portfolio. James Rickards is the bestselling author of Currency Wars and The Death of Money. He is a portfolio manager at West Shore Group and an adviser on international economics and financial threats to the Department of Defence and the US intelligence community. He served as facilitator of the first-ever financial war games conducted by the Pentagon.

This book is the first to draw together the numerous different regulations which affect how commodities are traded in the EU. Having long been a largely deregulated industry, intense scrutiny in the aftermath of the global financial crisis has left commodities trading subject to a raft of harmonized regulations, many of which have yet to be finalized. Regulation of both the physical and the financial commodities markets is undergoing significant change and participants and their advisors are struggling to understand the changes in each jurisdiction as well as the cross-border implications. The book pulls together these various pieces of EU legislation and examines how they influence the way that commodities are traded in Europe. It also provides coverage of regulation at domestic level in key jurisdictions active in the marketplace, namely the UK, USA, Switzerland, and Singapore. Divided into eight sections, the book includes analysis of the commodities trading houses (including their motives and methods), the main trading venues, trading practices, and potential illicit practices and market abuses. Each section has a detailed transnational component in which the position in each specific jurisdiction is explained, drawing parallels and setting out the differences between these countries. This extremely topical publication is an essential reference work for all those advising on or researching the increasingly complex and globalized field of commodities trading.