Agroforestry is an approach to cultivating land in which trees and shrubs are integrated alongside agricultural crops and pastureland.

Efficacy of Oil Palm Intercropping by Smallholders. Case Study in South-West Cameroon

USDA Agroforestry Strategic Framework, Fiscal Year 2011-2016

Agroforestry is an approach to cultivating land in which trees and shrubs are integrated alongside agricultural crops and pastureland. Although agroforestry has been practiced in various forms for millenia, it has seen newfound popularity in recent years as a method to increase the resilience of agricultural land to climate change. Agroforestry can help increase the sustainability of agricultural land by making crops less vulnerable to specific pests, diseases, or climatic changes. Agroforestry is the practice of mixing various types of crops, flora, and fauna in order to increase agricultural yields and sustainability. Nevertheless, the practice has gained greater attention in recent years as a means of increasing the resilience of agricultural land to climate change.

Agroforestry Defined

Backpricing refers to entering into a commodities futures contract without first specifying the price at which the commodity will be purchased.

In finance, the term "backpricing" refers to the practice of entering into a commodities futures contract without initially specifying the price at which the commodity will be purchased. Typically, traders use futures contracts to buy commodities at a known price with the intention of selling the futures contract or taking delivery of its underlying commodity at a specified future date. In those situations, the buyer and seller will first decide how they will set a price in the future, such as by agreeing to use the prevailing spot price for the commodity at that future date. By contrast, in typical futures contracts it is possible for the price paid for a commodity to differ markedly from its market price. Typically, the price is agreed upon by reference to an underlying reference or index, such as the spot price of the commodity.

Backpricing Defined

The Bank for Cooperatives was a government-sponsored bank that provided credit to the agricultural sector. In 1989, eleven of the 13 Banks for Cooperatives merged to form CoBank.

Farm Credit System Major Financial Indicators, Annual Comparison

The Bank for Cooperatives was a government-sponsored bank with a mandate to provide subsidized credit to the American agricultural sector. It is organized as an agricultural credit bank (ACB), while the other three banks—AgriBank, FCB, AgFirst Farm Credit Bank, and Farm Credit Bank of Texas—are organized as farm credit banks (FCBs). Under the FCS framework, CoBank is responsible for providing credit and other financial services to borrowers in the domestic agricultural sector, including farmers, ranchers, rural cooperatives, and others who are eligible to borrow from the System. CoBank is part of the Farm Credit System (FCS), which Congress formed in 1916 to provide dependable credit to the American agricultural sector. CoBank is part of the Farm Credit System, which Congress formed in 1916 to provide dependable credit to the American agricultural sector.

Bank for Cooperatives

A bounty is a generous amount of something or a sum paid by a government to reward certain activities or behavior in order to reach an economic goal.

SEC Issues Record $114 Million Whistleblower Award

The term _bounty_ can refer to any of the following:
1.  A generous amount of something
2.  A reward for capturing or even killing an undesirable person
3.  A reward from an organization that incentives a specific action(s) A bounty or subsidy can help industries invest in capital equipment designed to better the country or reach a desired outcome like cleaner-burning fuel.
The coal, nuclear, wind, solar, oil, and gas industries all receive subsidies or bounties from the U.S. government each year.
Bounty hunting is legal in the United States, but the specific laws regarding the rights of bounty hunters vary by state. The term _bounty_ can refer to a generous amount of something, a reward for capturing or even killing an undesirable person, or a reward, premium, or subsidy meant to incentivize a specific action(s).
In the world of cryptocurrency, bounty programs are used by coin developers to incentive actions before the initial coin offering (ICO). According to HackerOne, which hosts bug bounty programs for large businesses, the top five public bounty programs (in terms of total amount awarded) come from Verizon Media, Uber, PayPal, Shopify, and Twitter. In the world of cryptocurrency, bounty programs are used by coin developers to incentive actions before the initial coin offering (ICO).
An ICO is the crypto equivalent of an initial public offering (IPO), and it's used for the exact same purpose: to raise funds.

Bounty

A cartel is an organization created between a group of producers of a good or service to regulate supply in order to manipulate prices.

A cartel is an organization created from a formal agreement between a group of producers of a good or service to regulate supply in order to regulate or manipulate prices. Despite the fact that OPEC is considered by most to be a cartel, members of OPEC have maintained it is not a cartel at all but rather an international organization with a legal, permanent, and necessary mission. A cartel is an organization created from a formal agreement between a group of producers of a good or service to regulate supply in order to regulate or manipulate prices. A cartel is a collection of independent businesses or organizations that collude in order to manipulate the price of a product or service. Cartels operate at a detriment to the consumer in that their activities aim to increase the price of a product or service over the market price.

Cartel

Commoditization is the process of making a good or service into a commodity and competing on price.

Commoditization refers to the process of making something into a commodity. Commoditization is an action converts products, including financial products, into such an interchangeable and marketable item, such that it strips a good or service of differentiating characteristics. More broadly, commodification is taking something that previously was not available in the market and making it so, for instance the commoditization of the food chain has brought many more foods to the market, but has left small producers behind in favor large, low-cost producers. Commoditization may happen with a product, service or security, but in all cases three conditions must be met for a good or service to become a commodity:
1.  Standardized removes variations. Imagine an example of a mortgage, where the loan can be unique to the borrower, but a commodity to an investor who buys mortgages as investments and then pools them together in mortgage backed securities (MBS), which are then carved up and sold to new investors.

Commoditization

A commodity-backed bond is a type of bond whose value fluctuates based on the price of a specified commodity.

A commodity-backed bond is a type of bond in which the value fluctuates based on the price of a specified commodity. For an issuer, including a call option in the provisions of a commodity-backed bond can be beneficial because it protects them from having to pay excessively large coupon payments in the event that commodity prices increase rapidly after the issuance of the bond. Unlike most bonds, however, the value of commodity-backed bonds is directly impacted by changes in the price of the given underlying commodity, such as oil or gold. Because investors stand to gain from any increases in the price of the underlying commodities, commodity-backed bonds typically pay lesser coupon payments than regular bonds. Like all bonds, commodity-backed bonds are a type of fixed-income investment that provides the investor with a predictable stream of coupon payments as well as a contractually guaranteed repayment of the principal upon contract maturity.

Commodity-Backed Bond

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is an American state-owned enterprise (SOE) that is tasked with supporting the domestic agricultural sector.

The Commodity Credit Corporation: In Brief

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly-owned U.S. government corporation tasked with supporting the domestic agricultural sector. The CCC also assists the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) in developing foreign markets for agricultural exports, and providing food aid as part of international aid programs. By buying and storing agricultural products at a minimum support price, the CCC is then able to sell those products if prices rise beyond a certain level. The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly-owned U.S. government corporation tasked with supporting the domestic agricultural sector. Today, the CCC provides subsidies in the form of minimum support prices paid for American agricultural products.

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Defined

A commodity ETF is an exchange-traded fund that invests in physical commodities, such as agricultural goods, natural resources, and precious metals. 

XOP SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF

A commodity ETF is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) invested in physical commodities, such as agricultural goods, natural resources, and precious metals. An additional risk that futures-based commodity ETFs face is that instead of simply tracking commodity prices, ETFs may influence futures prices themselves due to their need to buy or sell large numbers of futures contracts at predictable times, known as a “roll schedule. As such, they may be more suitable for longer-term, more risk-averse investors.
When a futures market is in backwardation the rolling risk is “positive,” which means a commodity ETF will be selling higher-priced futures that are expiring and buying lower-priced futures, creating what is known as “positive roll yield.”
Regardless of which condition the futures market is in When a futures market is in contango the rolling risk is “negative,” which means that a commodity ETF will be selling lower-priced futures that are expiring and buying higher-priced futures, which is known as “negative roll yield.” Expense ratios for unleveraged futures-based commodity ETFs typically range from 0.50%-1.00% but vary from fund to fund and commodity to commodity.

Commodity ETF

Commodity paper is a loan which involves raw materials owned by the borrower serving as collateral to the note.

Exhibit K, Attached to Affidavits of Peter H. Kaminer, Howard L. Clark and Hasbrouck B Miller

Commodity paper is a loan or advance for which raw materials owned by the borrower serve as collateral. Commodity paper is a loan or advance for which raw materials owned by the borrower serve as collateral. Commodity paper is a loan or advance for which raw materials owned by the borrower serve as collateral. It is generally not necessary for the goods to be present, as long verification of their situation can be accessed should the need arise.
​​​​​​​Commodity paper is similar to a mortgage agreement or a car loan. Whereas a home or other real estate secures a mortgage, in the case of a loan involving commodity paper, the collateral is in the form of commodities.

Commodity Paper

Commodity price risk is price uncertainty that adversely impacts the financial results of those who both use and produce commodities.

Car Prices May Increase as Commodities Pinch Auto Industry

What Triggered the Oil Price Plunge of 2014-2016 and Why It Failed to Deliver an Economic Impetus in Eight Charts

Trump to Impose Sweeping Steel and Aluminum Tariffs

Commodity price risk is the possibility that commodity price changes will cause financial losses for either commodity buyers or producers. Commodity price risk for buyers is due to increases in commodity prices; for sellers/producers it is often due to decreases in commodity prices. Commodity price risk is the possibility that commodity price changes will cause financial losses for either commodity buyers or producers. Commodity price risk to buyers stems from unexpected increases in commodity prices, which can reduce a buyer's profit margin and make budgeting difficult. Producers and buyers can protect themselves from fluctuations in commodity prices by purchasing a contract that guarantees a specific price for a commodity.

Commodity Price Risk

A common resource is a resource, such as water or pasture, that provides users with tangible benefits. Overuse of common resources often leads to economic problems, such as the tragedy of the commons.

A common resource (or the "commons") is any scarce resource, such as water or pasture, that provides users with tangible benefits but which nobody in particular owns or has exclusive claim to. Smith's seminal work focused on the interplay of individuals and private economic agents exploiting scarce and rival common resources (environmental) for their own rational, self-interested purposes, leading to over-production and, ultimately, the possibility of an irreversible depletion of limited resources. Overuse of common resources often leads to economic problems, such as the tragedy of the commons, where user self-interest leads to the destruction of the resource in the long term, to the disadvantage of everyone. The tragedy of the commons is an economic problem in which every individual has an incentive to consume a resource at the expense of every other individual with no way to exclude anyone from consuming. A major concern with common resources is overuse, especially when there are poor social-management systems in place to protect the core resource.

Common Resource

Commodity pool operators (COPs) are salespeople for investment funds that trade in securities such as futures, options, swaps, and certain types of foreign exchange contracts.

A commodity pool operator (CPO) is a money manager or investment fund (called a commodity pool) that oversees investments made in commodities securities such as futures and options contracts, or foreign exchange (forex) contracts. A commodity pool operator (CPO) is a money manager or investment fund (called a commodity pool) that oversees investments made in commodities securities such as futures and options contracts, or foreign exchange (forex) contracts. A commodity pool is a type of investment fund, but federal regulations require those funds that trade in commodities to register with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as commodity pools. The commodity pool operator may also make trading decisions or advise other members of the commodity pool on potential investments for the pool. A CPO may work for a hedge fund or investment fund that takes positions in crude oil through the vehicles of futures or options contracts.

Commodity Pool Operator (CPO)

The Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) Index measures the overall price direction of commodity sectors. 

The Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) Index acts as a representative indicator of today's global commodity markets. The CRB measures the aggregated price direction of various commodity sectors, and is designed to isolate and reveal the directional movement of prices in overall commodity trades. In 1986, the CRB became the most watched contract on the exchange; today, several brokers support commodity indices that track commodity price movements. The Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) Index acts as a representative indicator of today's global commodity markets. The Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) Index acts as a representative indicator of today's global commodity markets.

Commodity Research Bureau Index (CRB)

A crop year is a period from one year's harvest to the next for an agricultural commodity.

Definitions used by the Farm Business Survey

World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates

A crop year is a period from one year's harvest to the next for an agricultural commodity. These timing differences make statistics on worldwide annual production very difficult to collate: any single twelve-month period may encompass a whole crop year in one country but will also include the tail end of the previous year’s crop and the beginning of the next year’s crop.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continually publishes reports with supply and demand statistics and forecasts for various crop years. These reports show last crop year's output, an estimate of the current crop year and projections of next crop year's production. The Farm Business Survey in the United Kingdom says a crop year refers only to those crops (except for certain horticultural crops) wholly or partly harvested during the accounting year and excludes any crop carried over from the previous year. According to the May 2019 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) released by the US Department of Agriculture, an abundant supply of soybean was expected for the coming crop year based on weather conditions and other environmental factors that affect production.﻿﻿﻿ However, soybean prices were pressured by Chinese tariffs and Swine flu fever in that crop year.

The Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) is a weighted index that tracks a wide range of 22 different commodity futures contracts.

The Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) is a weighted index that tracks a wide range of 28 different commodity futures contracts, including metals, agricultural products, and energy commodities such as oil and gas. The Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) is a weighted index that tracks a wide range of 28 different commodity futures contracts, including metals, agricultural products, and energy commodities such as oil and gas. The Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) is a broad measure of the commodity futures market that emphasizes diversification and liquidity through a simple, straightforward, equal-weighted approach. The commodity index was initially created by American International Group (AIG) in 1998, in an effort to meet the then-growing market demand for distinct market indices focused on alternative assets. The contracts represented by the index are weighted based on commodity production levels and the liquidity of the underlying contracts.

Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI)

E-CBOT was an electronic trading platform allowing traders to transact in futures and options contracts listed on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).

E-CBOT was an electronic trading platform operated by the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). When the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) bought the CBOT, it rolled e-CBOT into its own electronic trading platform, Globex, resulting in the closure of e-CBOT. CME's electronic trading platform is Globex, which was the first electronic trading platform for futures and options trading. When the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) bought the CBOT, e-CBOT was rolled into CME's electronic trading platform, Globex. E-CBOT was the electronic trading platform operated by the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) to trade financial derivatives.

e-CBOT

An eligible commercial entity is a firm that is authorized to make or take delivery of the commodities underlying one or more futures contracts.

In the commodities futures markets, an eligible commercial entity is a type of market participant that is authorized to make or take delivery of the commodities underlying one or more futures contracts. In the commodities futures markets, an eligible commercial entity is a type of market participant that is authorized to make or take delivery of the commodities underlying one or more futures contracts. In order to complete this transaction, you turn to an eligible commercial entity—specifically, a brokerage firm—that offers specialized knowledge about the wheat futures market and advice on how best to execute the futures transaction. In addition, eligible commercial entities can provide an advisory role on behalf of clients, while also adding liquidity to the marketplace by acting as market makers who buy and sell futures contracts for their own account. An eligible commercial entity is a company authorized to make and take delivery of commodities in commodities futures trading.

Eligible Commercial Entity

An exchange of futures for physical (EFP) is a private agreement between two parties to trade a futures position for the underlying actuals.

Table of Contents
Expand An exchange of futures for physicals can be used to open a futures position, close a futures position, or switch a futures position for the underlying asset. Exchange of futures for physical is also referred to as exchange of futures for product and exchange of futures for cash (as in cash commodity). They agree to a price and delivery date in the future where the producer hands over the physical oil to the refiner—locking in the refiner’s supply—and receives the futures in return, allowing the producer to continue the bullish position on oil prices. An exchange of futures for physical (EFP) is a private agreement between two parties to trade a futures position for the basket of underlying actuals.

Exchange of Futures for Physical (EFP)

An exempt commodity is any commodity other than an excluded or agricultural commodity. 

An exempt commodity is any exchange traded commodity that is not an excluded commodity or an agricultural commodity, such as energy and metal commodities. An eligible commercial entity is a market participant approved by the CFTC that has a demonstrable ability to make or take delivery of an underlying commodity of a contract; incurs risks related to the commodity; or is a dealer that regularly provides risk management, hedging services, or market-making activities to entities trading commodities or derivative agreements, contracts, or transactions in commodities. An exempt commodity is any exchange traded commodity that is not an excluded commodity or an agricultural commodity, such as energy and metal commodities. Exempt commodities are those that are neither agricultural commodities, such as livestock, wheat, or other grain, or excluded commodities, such as financial futures contracts, like interest rate futures. An exempt commodity is any exchange traded commodity that is not an excluded commodity or an agricultural commodity.

Exempt Commodity

The Farm Credit System is a nationwide system of financial institutions which provide credit to farmers, agricultural concerns, and related businesses. 

The Farm Credit System (FCS) is a nationwide lending network which specializes in serving the agricultural community. The FCS makes loans for a variety of purposes, including:
Agricultural processing and marketing activities
Rural housing initiatives
Farm-related businesses
Construction and improvement of rural utilities
Financing and promoting the global exports of products
Purchasing land to operate farms
Purchasing equipment and building the facilities necessary to the agriculture industry
The Farm Credit System helps the agriculture industry with resources including financial products such as credit life insurance, crop insurance, accounting tools and cash management services. The Farm Credit System is a crucial source of funding for the agribusiness industry which is seen as high-risk by traditional lenders. The Farm Credit System is a crucial source of funding for the agribusiness industry which is seen as high-risk by traditional lenders. The Farm Credit System (FCS) is a nationwide lending network which specializes in serving the agricultural community.

Farm Credit System (FCS)

A farmout is the assignment of part or all of an oil, natural gas or mineral interest to a third party for development.

A farmout is the assignment of part or all of an oil, natural gas, or mineral interest to a third party for development. The farmor usually receives a royalty payment once the field is developed and producing oil or gas, with the option to convert the royalty back into a specified working interest in the block after paying for drilling and production expenses that were incurred by the farmee. A company may decide to enter into a farmout agreement with a third party if it wants to maintain its interest in an exploration block or drilling acreage but wants to reduce its risk or doesn't have the money to undertake the operations that are desirable for that interest. Farmout agreements are very popular with smaller oil and gas producers who own or have rights to oil fields that are expensive or difficult to develop. A farmout is the assignment of part or all of an oil, natural gas, or mineral interest to a third party for development.

Farmout

The Farm Price Index is an economic indicator measuring the prices received by farmers for the sale of crops and livestock.

The first 50 years of the Producer Price Index: setting inflation expectations for today

Schedule of Releases for the Producer Price Index

Schedule of Releases for the Consumer Price Index

Agricultural Prices: November Prices Received Index Up 4.1 Percent

Agricultural Prices: November Prices Received Index Up 4.6 Percent

Data is normally released in the middle of every month at 8:30 a.m.
While the PPI tracks prices paid by consumers to domestic goods-producing industries, the CPI reflects changes to a representative basket of consumer goods and services that are intended to reflect the overall level of consumer prices throughout the economy as a whole. The purpose of the FPI is to monitor the prices received by farmers for the sale of crops and livestock, feed price ratios, and parity prices.﻿﻿ The index is commonly referred to in the industry as the Agriculture Price Index. The term Farm Price Index (FPI) refers to an economic indicator produced by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The index is considered to be a key economic indicator alongside the Producer Price Index and the Consumer Price Index.

Farm Price Index (FPI) Defined

The federal land bank (FLB) was established by President Wilson in 1916 to help farmers. Today, it is part of the Farm Credit System.

The federal land bank (FLB) is a network of regional cooperative banks that provide long-term loans to farmers and ranchers. The FCS makes loans for a variety of purposes, including:
Agricultural processing and marketing activities
Rural housing initiatives
Farm-related businesses
Construction and improvement of rural utilities
Financing and promoting the global exports of products
Purchasing land to operate farms
Purchasing equipment and building the facilities necessary to the agriculture industry
The Farm Credit System helps the agriculture industry with resources including financial products such as credit life insurance, crop insurance, accounting tools, and cash management services. There are more than 70 banks in the Farm Credit System (FCS) that specialize in loans for rural businesses including farms, forestry services, fisheries, parks, and recreational services. According to the Farm Credit Administration, 40.7% of current farm debt was issued by the Farm Credit System. In addition, the Farm Credit System provides loans to beginning farmers, rural infrastructure providers, and even rural homebuyers.

Federal Land Bank (FLB)

The Federal Farm Credit System (FFCS) is a network of financial institution that provide financing for agricultural companies in the United States.

H.R. 3030 -- Agricultural Credit Act of 1987

S.1884 -- Farm Credit Amendments Act of 1985

The Federal Farm Credit System (FFCS) is a network of government programs and financial institutions created to provide financing for agricultural businesses in the United States. Today, the modern FFCS is larger and more complex than ever before, consisting of three FCBS, seventy-two agricultural credit associations (ACAs), one federal land credit association (FLCA), and one agricultural credit bank (CoBank). The Federal Farm Credit System (FFCS) is a network of government programs and financial institutions created to provide financing for agricultural businesses in the United States. In 1985, the United States agricultural sector faced a period of financial uncertainty caused by the announcement of severe losses by the institutions of the FFCS. These dramatic losses, which were driven by a wave of bankruptcies among farmers in the preceding years, forced Congress to pass a series of laws in the mid-1980s: the Farm Credit Amendments Act of 1985, and the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987.

Federal Farm Credit System (FFCS)

Finding and development refers to costs incurred when a company purchases, researches and develops properties to establish commodity reserves. 

Finding and development (F&D) While the term finding and development can relate to costs incurred by any type of commodity company, it is commonly used in regards to the upstream costs of an oil or gas business. Newer drilling technologies, prominent in the Marcellus and Bennett shale fields in Pennsylvania and Texas, allow companies such as Chesapeake Energy Corporation to extend horizontal legs about 5,000 feet from vertical wells in search of natural gas pockets, producing four times as much gas at only twice the cost of a vertical well. F&D costs are calculated by dividing the costs incurred during a period of time by the number of commodities found during that same time. As natural gas prices descended to historic lows in January 2016, many exploratory wells were shuttered as high production costs rendered extraction unprofitable.

Finding And Development (F&D)

Fool's gold is a gold-colored mineral mistaken for real gold. In finance, it refers to an investment thought to be valuable that later ends up worthless.

Table of Contents
What Is Fool's Gold?
Understanding Fool's Gold
The Greater Fool Theory
How to Avoid Bad Investments
Different Terms Some analysts warned that the dotcom bubble was a modern gold rush, and they derided tech stocks as fool's gold. The name seemed particularly fitting to critics who saw cryptocurrencies as false currencies, just as fool's gold is false gold. It looks somewhat like real gold, so it came to be called fool's gold. The belief that a greater fool will pay a higher price provides a justification for knowingly investing in fool's gold.

Fool's Gold

Forwardation is a term used in the pricing of futures contracts and happens when the futures price of a commodity rises higher than the current price.

Table of Contents
What Is Forwardation? However, just because a futures contract has a higher price than today's spot price doesn't mean that the spot price of the commodity will rise in the future to match today's futures contract price. With the futures contract, the manufacturer knows in advance the price they will pay for the oil (the futures contract price), and they know they will be taking delivery of the oil once the contract expires. Forwardation is a term used in pricing futures contracts whereby the futures price of a commodity or currency is trading higher than the spot (cash) price of the commodity for immediate delivery. Over time, the market continuously receives new information, which causes fluctuations in the spot prices of commodities as well as adjustments to the expected future spot price—the most rational future price—of a futures contract.

Forwardation

Fungibles goods refer to securities or other items that are equivalent such that, for practical purposes, they are interchangeable.

Fungibles goods refer to securities, or other items, that are equivalent or consist of many identical parts such that, for practical purposes, they are interchangeable. When fungible goods are given numbers, they may no longer be fungible. Because listed options are considered fungible goods, it is possible to close out positions by taking offsetting positions. In finance and investing, commodities, common shares, options, and dollar bills are examples of fungible goods. If goods are sold by weight or number, then they are probably not fungible goods.

Fungibles Goods

Gemology is the scientific study and identification of gemstones; investing in which can be risky for nonprofessionals.

Table of Contents
What Is Gemology? Because most employers want their gemology employees to have at least a year of on-the-job training before hiring them in full-time positions, an apprenticeship is a good next step after completing a diploma or a certificate program. A diploma from an accredited gemology school will give you the credential you need to work in jewelry stores, jewelry manufacturing, and gemological laboratories. While some jobs in gemology will require you to obtain a diploma, there are some areas of gemology that will only require you to obtain a certification. Most professions in gemology require you to receive your diploma from an accredited gemology school.

Gemology

Genetically Modified Food is produced from organisms that have their genes engineered to have traits that are not created through natural selection.

Science and History of GMOs and Other Food Modification Processes

How GMOs Are Regulated for Food and Plant Safety in the United States

Where are GMO crops and animals approved and banned?

Genetically Modified Foods (GMF) are produced from organisms that have had their genes altered to introduce traits not created through natural selection. Genetically modified foods (mostly fruits and vegetables) have been commercially available since the 1994.﻿﻿ Modifying the genetic code of a fruit, vegetable or animal involves introducing a gene from another organism. More than half the 28 countries in the European Union_—_including Germany and France_—_have banned farmers from growing genetically modified crops, though imports of GMF animal feed is still allowed. In the United States, the U.S Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture regulate genetically modified foods to ensure they are safe for human consumption. For example, genetically modified organisms may squeeze out conventional fruits and vegetables from the environment.

Genetically Modified Food (GMF)

The gross processing margin is the difference between the cost of commodity inputs and the sale value of the eventual output.

The gross processing margin (GPM) is the difference between the cost of a raw commodity and the income it generates once sold as a finished product. The gross processing margin (GPM) is the difference between the cost of a raw commodity and the income generated once the commodity has been sold as a finished product. The gross processing margin (GPM) is the difference between the cost of a raw commodity and the income it generates once sold as a finished product. Two pork processors are working with the same raw commodity, but if one simply sells whole cuts frozen and the other sells a range of value-added products including bacon, sausages, and marinated loins, then their gross processing margins will likely reflect that product variance. The gross processing margin for two businesses using the same raw commodity can be very different depending on the end product mix.

Gross Processing Margin (GPM)

The S&P GSCI is an index of 24 exchange-traded futures contracts that represent a large portion of the global commodities market. 

The S&P GSCI is a composite index of commodities that measures the performance of the commodities market. The S&P GSCI is a benchmark commodities index that tracks the performance of the global commodities market. The Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI) is a weighted index that tracks a wide range of 28 different commodity futures contracts, including metals, agricultural products, and energy commodities such as oil and gas. The S&P GSCI is a composite index of commodities that measures the performance of the commodities market. The S&P GSCI is designed to reflect the relative significance of each of the constituent commodities to the world economy, while preserving the tradability of the index by limiting eligible contracts to those with adequate liquidity.

S&P GSCI

Hardening is a term used to describe commodity or futures contracts prices that are either stabilizing or advancing slowly.

Hardening is a reference to trading conditions in which securities prices are rising and volatility is declining in a particular financial market. Although the assessment that a market is hardening can be applied in several contexts, it is most commonly used when referring to the market for commodities futures.
The term hardening can also be used in the insurance and banking industries to refer to a period of more stringent underwriting or lending standards. While hardening is most often noted in reference to the trading conditions of commodities futures markets, it is also used to refer to periods of strict underwriting or lending standards in the insurance and banking industries. More rigorous underwriting or lending practices are sometimes implemented in response to risky decisions by the financial institutions involved, such as the optimistic derivative contracts and subprime loan agreements that American banks and insurance companies entered into prior to the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The term hardening is also common in the insurance and lending industries, where it refers to periods of time when more rigorous underwriting or lending practices are implemented.

Hardening

Hoarding is the purchase of large quantities of a commodity by a speculator with the intent of pushing up the price.

Executive Order 6102—Requiring Gold Coin, Gold Bullion and Gold Certificates to Be Delivered to the Government

Hoarding is the purchase and warehousing of large quantities of a commodity by a speculator with the intent of benefiting from future price increases. One of the most famous cases of hoarding occurred in the silver market in the 1970s and 80s when the Hunt brothers tried to hoard silver to corner the market. Yasuo Hamanaka, a commodities trader at Sumitomo Corporation, became known as Mr. Copper after he attempted to manipulate the copper price through hoarding. Because digital currencies like bitcoin are scarce and have a limited rate of new unit formation, hoarding strategies increase the relative scarcity and can drive up the price. Hoarding is the purchase and warehousing of large quantities of a commodity by a speculator with the intent of benefiting from future price increases.

Hoarding

Hotelling's theory posits that owners of nonrenewable resources will only produce supplies if they can yield more than available financial instruments.

Hotelling's theory addresses a fundamental decision for an owner of a nonrenewable resource: Keep the resource in the ground and hope for a better price the next year, or extract and sell it and invest the proceeds in an interest-bearing security. Hotelling's theory, or Hotelling's rule, posits that owners of nonrenewable resources will only produce basic commodities if doing so can yield more than could be earned from available financial instruments, such as U.S. Treasury or other similar interest-bearing securities. It follows that the rate of change in the price of a depletable resource must equal the interest rate that a miner or extractor uses to discount the future; this is known as the Hotelling _r_\-percent growth rule. In theory, then, the price increase rates of nonrenewable resources like oil, copper, coal, iron ore, zinc, nickel, etc. should track the pace of real interest rate increases.

Hotelling's Theory

An investment farm is an agricultural business owned by a non-farming investor for profit or as a tax deduction.

An investment farm is an agricultural business operation that is purchased and operated with the intention of making a profit, or with the goal of creating a tax deduction for the owner. These numbers suggest that, despite the decline in the abundance of family farms, large-scale investment farms still must compete with large-scale family farming operations for both land and labor. The National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries is a Chicago-based organization that created a farmland index to measure quarterly time-series return measure of investment performance of a large pool of individual agricultural properties between 1992 and 2016. Investors in farms, which include pension funds, endowments, and family offices, do not participate in the daily activities of running a farm or the business and hire employees for the task. Since the mid-1930s, farms in the United States have grown increasingly large while at the same time, the total number of family farms fell.

Investment Farm definition

Mineral rights are the ownership rights to underground resources such as oil, silver, or natural gas.

Mineral Rights Frequently Asked Questions

Surface Rights vs Mineral Rights in Oil & Gas Leasing

Chapter 47E. Residential Property Disclosure Act

Mineral rights are the ownership rights to underground resources such as fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal, etc.), metals and ores, and mineable rocks such as limestone and salt. The fact that mineral rights can be privately owned in the United States means that homeowners with rights to valuable resources on their property can sell those mineral rights to private corporations, sometimes generating substantial up-front or ongoing royalty payments by doing so. The development of technologies such as horizontal oil drilling has made it increasingly common for resource-extraction companies to purchase mineral rights without necessarily needing to acquire surface rights as well. To mitigate against this risk, homebuyers should ensure that they carefully study their property's land title records to verify whether the surface rights and mineral rights are included as part of their purchase. Another recent development in this sector is the involvement of large investment firms such as Texas-based EnCap Investments, which has invested in upstream companies focused on the Permian Basin and Marcellus Shale.﻿﻿ Black Stone Minerals (BSM), also based in Texas, been concentrating its mineral rights investments within the Permian, Haynesville, and Bakken shale oil fields.

Mineral Rights

Posted price is used to describe the price at which buyers or sellers are willing to transact for a particular commodity.

Crude Oil Prices: West Texas Intermediate (WTI) - Cushing, Oklahoma (DCOILWTICO)

Oil Prices: Price per barrel of WCS oil in US dollars

Average annual West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price

Western Canadian Select (WCS) crude oil monthly price

The posted price is the price at which buyers or sellers are willing to transact for a particular commodity. Because commodity prices fluctuate based on supply and demand, it is not uncommon for the direction of posted prices to change significantly in response to unforeseen events, such as a massive auto safety recall, a crisis in a foreign, oil-rich country that drives up oil prices, or a prolonged drought that devastates crops. The exchange, which also involves brokers and other intermediaries, allows market participants to discover the best available price for a given commodity, and to submit their offers to buy or sell at a specified price. When companies submit their buy or sell orders into a commodities exchange, the price at which they are willing to transact is known as the posted price. A bid-ask spread is the amount by which the ask price exceeds the bid price for any asset or commodity in the market.

Posted Price

Proved reserves is a classification that denotes hydrocarbon resources that can be recovered from the deposit with a reasonable level of certainty.

How much natural gas does the United States have, and how long will it last?

Proved reserves is a metric used in mining that describes the amount of hydrocarbon resources that can be recovered from a deposit with a reasonable level of certainty. Proved reserves is used in the valuation of a mining company, as the ability of the company to generate future revenue partly depends upon how much of its discovered resources can be reliably extracted. Proved reserves is a metric used in mining that describes the amount of hydrocarbon resources that can be recovered from a deposit with a reasonable level of certainty. Proved reserves is a metric that describes the amount of hydrocarbon resources that can be recovered from a deposit with a reasonable level of certainty. Proved resources are the opposite of unproven resources, which are discovered assets the company is not certain it will be able to extract.

Proved Reserves

Proven reserves are the best estimate of oil that will be extracted from a formation given the current technology, economic evaluation, and available data.

Petroleum Reserves and Resources Definitions

Proven reserves (sometimes called "proved reserves") refer to the quantity of natural resources that a company reasonably expects to extract from a given formation. For example, if a company has a large number of probable reserves and a relevant extraction technology improves, then those probable reserves are added to the proven reserves. For this reason, it is useful for investors to know a company’s proven, probable, and possible reserves rather than just the proven reserves. Additionally, if the price of oil goes up, oil and gas companies have a wider range of more expensive extraction methods that can be deployed while still turning a profit, again moving probable reserves into proven. Possible reserves refer to oil reserves for which the estimated likelihood of successful extraction is between 10% and 50%—assuming that existing equipment is used and the extraction is carried out under typical conditions.

Proven Reserves

A purchase and sales statement from a futures commission merchant to a customer details the sale or offsetting of a futures or options position.

A purchase and sales (P&S) statement details the sale and offsetting of a futures or options position. In contrast, a confirmation statement, also sent by the futures commission merchant (FCM), details the opening or initiation of a futures or options position. An FCM is an individual or organization, registered with the National Futures Association (NFA), involved in the solicitation or acceptance of buy or sell orders for futures or options on futures in exchange for payment of money (commission) or other assets from customers. A purchase and sales (P&S) statement details the sale and offsetting of a futures or options position. The futures commission merchant (FCM) sends the statement to the customer after the position is offset (closed).

Purchase And Sale Statement (P&S)

Investors who want an inflation hedge and to diversify their portfolio of equities and fixed income products can invest in timberland.

Table of Contents
What Is a Timberland Investment? Timberland investments are not perfect investments meaning they are vulnerable to risks, which can include:
Demand for lumber can fall during a recession, causing prices to fall in turn.
Natural disasters can destroy the forestland eroding an investment.
Housing market downturns can hurt demand for timber resulting in lower prices. Investors can take a position in timber by investing in timber ETFs (exchange-traded funds), which are comprised of many companies that own forests and produce timber-related products. Also, investors can invest in REITs (real estate investment trusts) that contain one owner of forested land and produce timber-related products. Some of those investment vehicles include:
Guggenheim Timber (CUT) is an ETF that consists of over two dozen companies that produce timber products or own forestland.

Timberland Investment

A Timber Investment Management Organization (TIMO) is a management group that aids institutional investors in managing their timberland investments.

North America’s Top Timberland Owners and Managers, 2021 Update

A Timber Investment Management Organization (TIMO) is a management group that aids institutional investors in managing their timberland investment portfolios. It is true that TIMOs can help institutional investors diversify their portfolios into U.S. timberlands, but such real estate investments are probably best used as part of a well-diversified portfolio with multiple asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, and commodities.
In addition to wealth-building opportunities created by market changes, there are a number of other reasons to consider adding timber to a portfolio.
1.  **The demand for timber is increasing.*As of 2008, the demand for timber has been increasing as forest-related product development grows. Institutional investors looking to invest in timber and timberland often use timber investment management organizations (TIMOs). 6.  **Investment in the land as an appreciating asset.*
Although the land necessary to grow timber stock can be leased, the majority of timber investors purchase the land. Because prices are not affected by the same factors, timber returns are not correlated to returns of other asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, and real estate.

Timber Investment Management Organization (TIMO)

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) is the largest marketplace in Japan for the trading of raw or primary goods, such as natural resources.

As noted above, the formation of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) came with the merger of the Tokyo Textile Exchange, the Tokyo Rubber Exchange, and the Tokyo Gold Exchange in November 1984. The exchange was founded in 1984 as a result of the merger between the Tokyo Textile Exchange, the Tokyo Rubber Exchange, and the Tokyo Gold Exchange. The exchange was created in 1984 following the merger of the Tokyo Textile Exchange, the Tokyo Rubber Exchange, and the Tokyo Gold Exchange. The exchange gives investors the opportunity to trade futures and options contracts for rubber, gold, silver, crude oil, gasoline, gas oil, kerosene, platinum, and palladium.﻿﻿ Gold, crude oil, platinum, and rubber were the commodities with the highest trading volume in 2020.

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM)

The United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) is an exchange traded fund designed to track the percentage changes in the price of natural gas futures.

The United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) is an exchange traded fund (ETF) with the stated goal of following the movement of natural gas prices. The United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) is a natural gas ETF whose goal is to track the percentage movements of the natural gas futures contract on the NYMEX. The performance of the ETF has been poor, given the consistent drop in prices of Henry Hub, as the U.S. shale industry grows and adversely impacts Henry Hub prices.
Before ETFs became widespread, investors had to invest in futures to gain exposure to natural gas, which is much more complicated than buying or selling stock on an exchange. The NYMEX natural gas contract is the Henry Hub Natural Gas futures, the primary U.S. benchmark for natural gas. UNG invests primarily in natural gas futures contracts but also in natural gas-related futures as well as forwards and swaps.

United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG)

The USDA manages programs related to food, agriculture, rural development, and nutrition.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal agency that proposes programs and implements policies and regulations related to American farming, forestry, ranching, food quality, and nutrition. The USDA also is responsible for several social welfare programs, including: school meal nutrition; nutrition education; organic food standards; food assistance for women, infants and children (WIC); and the food stamp program (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP). The USDA’s programs help provide the following services, among others: broadband access in rural areas; disaster assistance to farmers, ranchers, and rural residents; soil, water, and other natural resource conservation to landowners; wildfire prevention; and agricultural research and statistics. The Farmers Home Administration provides credit and technical assistance to rural families and communities through four major programs: a housing program, utility program, business program, and community development program. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal agency that proposes programs and implements policies and regulations related to American farming, forestry, ranching, food quality, and nutrition.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Wholesale energy is a term referring to the bulk purchase and sale of energy products by energy producers and energy retailers.

Wholesale energy is a term referring to the bulk purchase and sale of energy products—primarily electricity, but also steam and natural gas—in the wholesale market by energy producers and energy retailers. In the wholesale energy market, the term generally relates to purchasing and selling large quantities of electricity between utility companies, but other smaller independent renewable energy producers are also entering the wholesale energy market. Wholesale energy is a term referring to the bulk purchase and sale of energy products—primarily electricity, but also steam and natural gas—in the wholesale market by energy producers and energy retailers. As the energy market becomes increasingly deregulated, it has become possible, but not easy, for retail energy consumers to enter the wholesale energy market and sell electricity produced from renewable sources like solar or wind back to the electric utility companies. However, detractors of the wholesale energy concept maintain that it may actually lead to higher prices for retail consumers and can cause artificial shortages such as the California energy crisis of 2000—2001 due to market manipulation.

Commodities

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Terms in Commodities