Commodities make the world go around. They feed, drive and help manufacture a plethora of everyday items. In 2007/08 the world's population witnessed the commodity story reaching epic proportions. Rising demand, coupled with limited supply as well as volatile stock markets, all merged into a perfect storm to push up the cost of resources and agricultural commodities across the globe. This soaring want and need for everything from oil to gold, from corn to natural gas sent markets, investors and the media into a frenzied state. But many believe this occurrence was not just random hyperbole - demand for energy, metals, both precious and industrial, alongside agricultural commodities, especially from the vast populations of world's emerging economies, such as China and India, was insatiable. The aim of this book is to help private investors understand the story and themes driving the major commodities in the primary resource sectors - energy, base metals, precious metals and agriculture. Each section outlines what the general thesis is on each commodity, what the experts think, what is the long-term outlook for each resource, and, most importantly - with advice from those in the know - it explains the best and safest routes into investing in each commodity covered. Although commodities can be a bumpy ride, which potential investors need to be prepared for, many experts in the field believe that commodities are gearing up for another long-term bull run after emerging out of their last proper bear market in 1998, when prices had tumbled to 20 year lows. This book aims to provide every investor with the basic knowledge they need in order to be able to invest successfully in not only commodities but also in the emerging markets of the world which are scooping up the world's resources.


About the Author:

A history and politics graduate from University College Dublin, following the completion of his MA in Film and a subsequent short stint working in television, Philip Scott moved from his native Dublin to London in 1999, where he went on to study journalism. Philip has worked in financial journalism for the past six years. He began his career on specialist titles such as Investment Week, Money Marketing and Bloomberg Money before moving to The Sunday Times and then subsequently to the Daily Mail Group's hugely popular personal finance website www.thisismoney.co.uk where he covers pensions and tax as well as investment issues.