Commodities are objects that come out of the earth such as orange juice, wheat, cattle, gold and oil. People buy and sell commodities based on speculation. For instance, if you thought hurricanes over Latin America were going to destroy much of the coffee crop, you would call your commodity broker and have them purchase as much coffee as possible. If you were correct, the price of coffee would be driven up drastically because the crop had been destroyed by weather, making the surviving harvest worth more.

Almost all commodity speculators trade on margin which results in substantial risk to the invested principal. The odds are heavily against anyone hoping to build permanent wealth in the commodity markets.