That statement seems to be able to be applied to almost any market and any situation, as not only commodity trading, but any market has the ad line that says you can work anywhere in the world and be independent and not answer to anyone – all this can be yours if you just trade, trade and trade some more. Well enticing as this may sound, not many people have actually decided that this is a route to follow, and the horror stories to come out of Wall Street would be more than enough to push away potential traders from their day at the market.

One thing you need to know is that hype is a word that goes both ways. It can make something better than it is and it can vilify something way beyond its potential negative impact. Let us look at the facts of the matter and then decide from there. For one thing, you can make money from commodity trading, and yes you can lose money from it as well. But tell me, in which market and in which time does this not apply. Even the biggest money makers, from top investors to central banks are making and losing money on a daily basis. This is a fact that you need to accept because it is only through losing that you can gain profits.

Yes, this concept might be hard to swallow, but it is one that has dominated the financial centre of the world for the past couple of decades. Understand this, whatever you might have heard about the markets are true. There are people who have been wiped out overnight, but this is just because they have either poor risk management or their calculations have gone awry. If you dump a million dollars into a single commodity or a conglomerate of them and they all fail, and all you ever had was a million dollars, then you will be wiped out. If that was the case, the property market should be for you then. Here, restraint is the key. What is your tolerance sphere? How much can you lose? In these times, it is always best to trade a little at a time and make the money slowly and build it up.

How people get wiped out is simply through the system of making their money slowly, then investing it all in one trade. They lose everything, and in desperation, they go negative on their credit to invest some more and now they are in debt. If things sounds a lot like the disease called gambling, then you are right on the money. Commodity trading is all about knowing what economic situation you are in and what kind of commodity will thrive in it. Even in the worst of times, there will be commodities that perform because of an increased global demand. Know what you are doing and the psychology of the market. Push the right buttons and really, take it slow. Then, just maybe, commodity trading will set you free.