Commodity futures are generally traded before their expiration date.

Recent initiatives by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission point in the right direction.

Commodity futures are formal agreements to buy or sell a specified amount of a commodity at a specified future date for a specified price.

Economists generally consider commodity futures to be the solution to higher price volatility, not its cause.

An alternative for some commodity exporters is to hedge their risk by selling on the futures market.

But their presence has also raised concerns that speculation in commodity futures could result in higher price volatility.

They argue that traders of commodity futures merely react to price signals that ultimately depend on market fundamentals.

But history is not destined to repeat itself, and leaders of commodity rich countries are seeking alternative futures.

Furthermore, ample worldwide liquidity and the rise of other commodity prices induced market speculators to buy into oil futures.

Such measures will contribute to shaping a more stable market environment and ensure that commodity futures reduce risks and volatility.

Some believe that the crisis was amplified by speculative trading in commodity futures, which have become an integral part of food markets.

Until this month, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission had been at odds with Barnier over the territorial scope of US derivatives rules.

Synthetic securities need to be similarly regulated, although the task could be assigned to a different authority, such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Given the important role that commodity futures play for many market participants, regulatory measures should aim at enhancing confidence in the functioning of the market.

This is more prevalent in the US, where regulators salaries are very low, especially in the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In fact, commodity futures have become increasingly appealing to non commercial investors, as their returns seem to be negatively correlated with returns on equities and bonds.

Although index fund investments are important compared to the positions of other futures participants, their behavior is predictable, as they publicly announce both their commodity portfolio and the timing of their transactions

Europe s Two Futures

America s Opposing Futures

Two Energy Futures

At a recent Commodity Futures Trading Commission roundtable, the banking sector representative sitting next to me cited a paper by a prominent Stanford University finance professor to support his position against a particular regulation.

Many Russian futures are possible.

Differences of opinion between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had obstructed effective oversight of investment banks and derivatives trading (only the US believes that it makes sense to regulate securities and derivatives separately).

For many years we have been campaigning for housing futures, but no exchange wanted to use such indices to create a futures market until now.

Has anybody here made a profit in futures trading?

To be sure, the budget crisis in the US caused most stock futures to decline on that day. But, if the ministry s view of the consumption tax was correct, Nikkei futures would have gained more or at least lost less than futures in other countries.

What they need is a chance to shape their own futures.

Commodity prices fell, too.

Latin America s Commodity Windfall

Nonetheless, he loves his children, and wants them to have happy futures.

Again, a commodity for consumption.

A liquid, cash settled futures market that is based on an index of home prices in a city would enable a homeowner living there to sell in a futures market to protect himself.

The contradictory college The conflicting origins, impacts, and futures of the community college.

International commodity markets are under stress.

United Nations commodity and other conferences.

How can measures to increase commodity price stability and returns from commodity exports contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals?

33. We emphasize the need to address the impact of weak and volatile commodity prices and support the efforts of commodity dependent countries to restructure, diversify and strengthen the competitiveness of their commodity sectors.

A genuine futures market on single family homes has not been attempted since 1991 when the London Futures and Options Exchange (now merged into Euronext.liffe) failed in its effort to launch such a market in Britain.

Growth driven by high commodity prices is also susceptible to busts, for similar reasons. Commodity prices tend to move in cycles.

Fourth, the commodity super cycle that helped Brazil, Russia, South Africa, and many other commodity exporting emerging markets may be over.

But mounting environmental challenges, and the limited availability of commodity substitutes, suggest that a reprieve on commodity prices is not near.

The Global Implications of Falling Commodity Prices

After all, energy is a global commodity.

The Silver Lining in High Commodity Prices

Informal briefing on reproductive health commodity security