The Little Book of Commodity Investing

Just as John's first book, Shell Shocked, laid out a compelling case for "buying all the Canada you can get," this book lays out the case for commodities. "Commodities" and "commodity trading" are intimidating terms to many investors, as are "futures" and "futures contracts." That's largely because American consumers are raised on the DOW and a few of the ancillary indices. A perfect example of that myopia is how people are presently yelling about the "lost decade" that investors have had from 2000-2010, conveniently leaving out the benefits of dividend reinvestment and the possiblity that individual investors and equity fund managers could have overweighted on Apple Inc. stock during the decade. Regardless, many individual investors buy the hype, panic, and make emotional decisions like putting lots of money into a savings account earning .05%.It is in this sort of a climate that John helpfully points out that commodities are:* not intimidating* easy to understand* a smart investment for our timesWhy are commodities not intimidating? Because they're all around us. They're the things we use every day, like the gasoline that goes into our cars or the wheat and flour that we find in our bread. Sure, the price of gold gets all the headlines--it's sort of like the DOW of commodities--but there are so many more places that investors can put their money to work in commodities.Commodities are easy to understand because they're being used or consumed all the time. Check out the shipments coming into a restaurant or a supermarket on any given day and you'll see commodities coming in that have been purchased and are about to be put to use by the restaurant or supermarket.Why are commodities a smart investment for our times? Because people need them now and will need them more as economies grow. As John mentioned during his CNBC appearance over the summer, only 30% of China's population participates in the nation's economy. It's going to take more roads, bridges, buildings, fuel, food and other commodity-based material to bring that remaining 70% into the fold. That increasing demand, of course, means rising prices for relavant commodities.John's book touches on myriad ways that commodities can, should, and will be used in the future. The Little Book of Commodity Investing is an easy read that teaches the reader why natural gas prices are more volatile than oil prices, that Brazil is actually the orange juice capitol of the world and many other fun facts. For that reason alone, it's a wonderful read. But John also gives the reader a plenty of ammunition regarding WHY he or she should invest in a given commodity. I'm not saying this book alone will make Joe Investor cash out his brokerage account and buy a nickel mine in Sudbury, Ontario, and that's a good thing. But it will make Joe Investor a lot more comfortable thinking about commodity investing and want to learn more.

I listened to interview by Author on financialsense.comI liked the interview. I like the book so far. Half way through it.Commodities are very important way to invest with the debasement of all the currencies from QE.Big fan of Jim Rogers. Read his book years ago. RJI is an etf that tracks Jim Rogers index.I like many of the books in this series. The Peter Schiff book I would recomend as well.

The little book of Commodities Investing is an introduction to commodities investing and the futures market. Since I am investor with Forex, stock and options, the book's information was basic, but very interesting. I was looking for a short book read on commodities since I trade commodities ETFs regularly. I enjoyed the writing style and the flow of this book and recommend it for new investors wanting to get into commodities. The book is very compact and easy to carry in your pocket for a good read on the train or bus. The book print type and size are good for reading in less light which I do a lot.

I bought this book on commodities since I thought I knew nothing on this type of investing. I was wrong, I knew a lot of what was in this book. This book only lists different kinds of commodities that can be invested in. It gives some historical background on each commodity. It does NOT tell you anything about how to actually invest in a commodity, how the margins work, limit up and downs, anything about the actual market one might need to know before getting into it. Some of the explanations and historical information was interesting which is why I gave it two stars, but without any actual information on commodity investing - the title is a little misleading.After reading through the book I can't help but give the Eddie Murphy look from Trading Places when pork belly commodities were being explained to him and they said "like you might find in a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich" (youtube watch?v=emvySA1-3t8). I can't believe I bought this book.

This was one great read, and an easy one at that. You would think that a book about commodities would be about as dull as dishwater, but in The Little Book of Commodity Investing, author John Stephenson brings this world to life and explains why commodities figure in every portfolio. Best yet, I feel like a more informed investor. I would recommend this book without reservation to anyone who wants a better financial future.

This little book will help anybody to understand that Wall Street is over. Now is the time of commodities. Excellent view point from the author that the real futures is commodities and not a stock/s, buying it low and selling high. Viva "day-trading", the microwave philosophy, make money in less than 3 minutes !!

I don't want to spend a lot of time on a review of a book this useless -- reading it was enough of a waste of time. There are no strategies on how to trade or analysis of what to buy. The bottom line is that developing markets are consuming more so commodity prices will go up. I already know this, and everyone that watches the news knows it. He also talks a lot about western counties having maxed out their credit cars -- something else I am well aware of. The author list some commodities, mentions some of the main commodity producers, gives a junior high school style report of where the commodities come from, mentions some ETF... That's it.What I was looking for in this book was some sort of strategy on what and how to buy -- isn't that finance books are for? The author put very little effort into writing this (you can find most of this on Wikipedia, honest), offers absolutely no insight, and therefore this book has no value whatsoever. Do not buy it -- watch TV instead...

Good read. My class made me get this. Can't complain much.

A lot of propaganda (how commodities are great) and not so much usefull information (correlation with other asset classes, how it behaved over other cycles)

I like everything about this book!

Little book on commodity Is a must have series

Gives a general overview of each main commodity and the market dynamics at a a very high level. Whilst this was mildly interesting overview, the book failed to give a explanation on any key techniques or analysis process that could be helpful for a would-be investor. It didn’t live up to the quality of the other books in the ‘Little book of ______ Investing’ series.

Hugely disappointing read. General gyaan that you can glean from Wikipedia. Not worth your while. I had to drag myself to the end.Clear avoid.