1. Commodities & derivatives
Teaching rewrite of commodity-market fundamentals. Original wording; prices are illustrative (gold around USD 1,400 is a teaching number, not today’s market). Not investment advice.
2. Derivative valuation
Teaching rewrite of how commodity forwards, swaps, and options are priced. Original wording; all worked numbers recomputed. Prices (gold near USD 1,400, crude near USD 50) are teaching values, not today’s market. Not investment advice.
3. Risk management
Teaching rewrite of risk management for commodity hedgers and traders. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Prices are teaching values. Not investment advice.
4. Gold
Teaching rewrite of the gold market: physical chain, London conventions, price drivers, leasing, hedging, trading, and yield enhancement. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Prices around USD 1,300 are teaching values from the source era — see the price note below. Not investment advice.
5. Base metals
Teaching rewrite of base metals: production, copper, aluminium, steel, the London Metal Exchange, price drivers, and hedging for consumers. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Prices (aluminium ~USD 2,500, copper ~USD 7,000) are teaching values. Not investment advice.
6. Crude oil
Teaching rewrite of crude oil: quality, the supply chain, refining economics, supply and demand, price drivers, benchmarks, the Brent and WTI complexes, and hedging for producers, refiners, and consumers. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Prices are teaching values. Not investment advice.
8. Electricity
Teaching rewrite of electricity markets: generation, the supply chain, market design and regulation, price drivers, spark/dark spreads, trading conventions, locational pricing, and power derivatives. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Prices are teaching values. Not investment advice.
9. Plastics
Teaching rewrite of plastics as a commodity: polymer chemistry, production routes, applications, the supply chain, benchmark pricing, price drivers, and hedging without a liquid futures market. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Prices are teaching values. Not investment advice.
10. Bulk commodities
Teaching rewrite of the bulk commodity markets: coal, iron ore, and freight — the raw materials and shipping behind the steel supply chain. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Prices are teaching values. Not investment advice.
11. Climate and weather
Teaching rewrite of climate science, climate policy, emissions trading (with a focus on the EU ETS), emission derivatives, and weather derivatives. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Prices are teaching values. Not investment advice.
12. Agriculture
Teaching rewrite of agricultural and soft commodities: grains, oilseeds, palm oil, sugar, coffee, cocoa, and ethanol — plus price drivers, the Commitments of Traders report, the 2010 cocoa squeeze, and OTC hedging structures. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Prices are teaching values. Not investment advice.
13. Commodity-linked financing
Teaching rewrite of how commodity production and trade are financed: secured lending documents, project finance and the DSCR, the asset conversion cycle, repos, tri-party margin financing, prepays, supply-and-offtake deals, lending risks, and loans with embedded commodity optionality. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Not investment or legal advice.
14. Commodity investing
Teaching rewrite of commodities as an investment: who invests and why, commodity indices and the roll-yield debate, total return swaps, exchange traded products (ETCs, ETFs, ETNs), and structured notes. Original wording; worked numbers recomputed. Not investment advice.