Investing in Commodities has always been a highly appreciated method by investors, as well as one of the most remunerative.
But be careful, because the statement "it is one of the most remunerative" should be understood in the right way. This means that it is much more difficult for a commodity to lose value compared to other assets deemed riskier such as Stocks, Forex, and Crypto.
Commodities are in fact considered safe-haven assets, suffer much less from volatility, and give greater possibilities of gain (although often it is lower than what you can earn by investing in other assets).
Below is an overview of the most interesting commodities, how to invest (platforms and Brokers) and how much you can earn.
Investing in Commodities: the three categories
Before starting to invest in commodities, it is worth pointing out that they are divided into three sub-categories. Namely the commodities:
- agricultural;
- energy;
- precious metals.
Obviously, the most interesting commodities that are truly to be considered as a safe-haven asset are precious metals. These include gold, silver, platinum, and so on.
Energy commodities, on the other hand, are those that are used to create other goods, products, or even to power industrial machinery. These include oil, gas, copper, and so on.
Finally, there are agricultural commodities such as coffee, wheat, sugar, and so on. Each category tends to behave differently: agricultural commodities are heavily influenced by weather conditions, harvest cycles, and seasonal demand, which can make prices swing sharply within a single year. Energy commodities tend to track global economic activity and geopolitical developments, since industrial production and transportation both depend on them. Precious metals, by contrast, often move in response to monetary policy, currency strength, and the general appetite for safe-haven assets during periods of uncertainty.
The most reliable platforms and Brokers
The recommended method for investing in commodities is through online trading.
Nowadays there are many valid platforms, although it is always advisable to rely exclusively on Brokers / platforms in possession of the ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) license and not.
Among the most reliable brokers at European and world level are:
- TotalFX;
- XTB;
- AvaTrade;
- XM;
All the platforms mentioned above are authorized to offer trading and brokerage services throughout the European territory. Before opening an account, it is worth comparing more than just the license status. Spreads, commissions, available contract types (spot, futures, or CFDs), and the minimum trade size can all vary between brokers and affect the actual cost of holding a position over time. Reading the fine print on margin requirements is equally important, since commodities can be more volatile than other asset classes and margin calls can arrive quickly during sharp price moves.
How much you can earn
It is difficult to establish how much you can earn from an investment in commodities. Obviously everything will depend on the chosen commodity and its market trend.
Precious metals are often described as a store of value over long horizons, but that is not the same as a yearly gain: gold and silver have both had losing years, and the direction of any single year cannot be taken for granted. Several factors tend to drive precious metal prices over time. Gold, in particular, is often sought as a hedge when inflation rises or when confidence in currencies and equity markets weakens. Silver shares some of that safe-haven appeal but is also tied to industrial demand, since it is used in electronics and solar panel manufacturing, which can make its price somewhat more sensitive to the broader economic cycle. Because of this mix of drivers, price movements in precious metals rarely follow a straight line, and a long time horizon combined with sensible position sizing tends to matter more than trying to time short-term swings.
For an up-to-date figure, check the current gold or silver price directly on a broker platform or a live market feed rather than a fixed table, since both prices move constantly during trading hours.
