Some commodities are traded on the stock market.
Many commodities, such as gold, crude oil and corn, are regularly sold on commodities exchanges in the form of futures contracts. However, a number of commodities are also available on the stock exchange in the form of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. While some commodity ETFs offer a range of commodities, others offer only a single commodity, allowing investors to purchase shares in their holdings like they would the stock of a company.
Gold
Gold is offered as a single commodity by a number of ETFs, all of which trade at similar prices. As of September 2010, the price of gold had risen to historic heights.
Oil
Crude oil is also offered in a number of single-commodity ETFs. The ETFs differ by the type of oil they offer, differing by viscosity and sulfur content, and by the location in which they are offered.
Copper
Copper is available on the New York Stock Exchange in a fund managed by London-based Barclays Global Investors iPath Exchange, under the ticker symbol JJC.
Natural Gas
The United States Natural Gas Fund offers a fund composed of gas delivered at the Henry Hub in Louisiana, under the symbol UNG. Barclays offers a similar product under the symbol GAZ.
Platinum
London-based ETF Securities offers a stock on the London Stock Exchange that tracks the price of platinum, under the symbol PPLN.
Corn
Corn is offered for sale on the London Stock Exchange by ETF Securities. The fund was launched in 2006 and more than doubled in price in June 2008 before dropping again.
Cocoa
Cocoa is offered as an ETF by both Barclays on the New York Stock Exchange, and by ETF Securities on the London Stock Exchange. It is also available in the form of a leveraged cocoa-index, in which bets on cocoa yield twice the returns and losses.
Coffee
Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "JO," coffee is offered for sale by Barclays. It was launched in 2008 and has been marked by volatility.
Zinc
Zinc is listed by ETF Securities on the London stock exchange under the symbol LZIC. Zinc is less popular than other commodities and experiences lighter trading than gold or crude.
Wheat
Wheat, a staple crop with wide global consumption, is a popular staple of diversified ETFs, but is offered as a single-commodity ETF by Teucrium Trading LLC, under the symbol "WEAT."
Sugar
Issued by Barclays, sugar trades publicly on the New York Stock Exchange as a single-commodity ETF. The price of the ETF rose dramatically in 2007, less than a year after it was launched.
Gasoline
Gasoline is one of several fuels offered in the form of a single commodity by ETF Securities. They also offer heating oil and natural gas for purchase.
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