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Track live prices for crude oil, gold, silver, copper, natural gas, corn, wheat and more in one clean market board. See what is moving before researching the reason. Built for beginners.
Commodity headlines usually quote a futures contract for a named delivery month. As that contract approaches expiry, attention moves to the next one. This change helps explain why the return from a commodity fund can differ from the spot price it appears to follow. The free StockEducation Futures and Commodities Dashboard shows available prices and moves for energy, metals and farm products, including oil, natural gas, gold, silver, copper, corn and wheat. Read each figure with the contract month and expiry in mind. It is market information, not an investment recommendation.
Commodities are raw materials like oil, gold and wheat. Futures are contracts to buy or sell those materials at a set price on a future date. The prices on this dashboard are the live futures prices, which is what professionals use as the “market price” for each commodity.
Patterns that hold across every reporting season. The specific numbers change, the structure does not.
Energy, metals and agriculture are grouped in the live table. Green means the market is up on the day, red means it is down. Use the board as a quick market overview before researching the reason behind the move.
Market groups included:
Educational content only. Commodity price data is provided by TradingView and reflects market rates during active trading hours. This tool does not provide financial advice, investment advice or buy/sell signals.
A commodities dashboard shows live prices for raw materials traded on global futures markets. Energy, metals and agriculture prices in one view, so you can see what is driving inflation, industry and the real economy.
A four-stage written walkthrough — how to read energy, metals and agriculture contracts and connect them to inflation, demand and risk sentiment.
Each chapter below maps to a stage of using this tool — work through them in order.
Clear beginner outcomes for this specific tool.
Oil, gas and food commodities can move before inflation shows up in official data.
Copper, oil and industrial commodities often reflect expectations for economic growth.
Gold, energy and agriculture can explain why certain sectors, currencies or inflation expectations are moving.
Commodities are the raw inputs to the entire economy. Knowing how to read the energy, metals and agriculture markets gives you a clearer picture of inflation, industry, and the stocks that move with them.
Total read time: about 8 minutes. Each section can stand on its own.
A commodity is a raw material that is essentially identical no matter who produces it. A barrel of oil is a barrel of oil. An ounce of gold is an ounce of gold. Because the product is uniform, prices are set on global futures exchanges where traders agree on what each unit is worth.
A futures contractA contract to buy or sell a commodity at a set price on a set future date. is just an agreement to buy or sell a commodity at a set price on a future date. The price these contracts trade at is what we call “the price of oil” or “the price of gold”.
The dashboard groups commodities into three buckets:
Each group moves on different drivers. Energy reacts to geopolitics and demand. Metals react to inflation expectations and industrial activity. Agriculture reacts to weather and harvest news.
Step 1: Scan the colours by group. Is energy mostly red while metals are green? That tells you what is happening with inflation versus growth that day.
Step 2: Read percent change, not price. Oil at $97 versus gold at $4,500 cannot be compared by dollar amount. Percent is the fair comparison.
Step 3: Watch the relationship between gold and the dollar. Gold and the US dollar usually move in opposite directions. Strong dollar, weak gold.
Step 4: Read copper for the real economy. Copper is used in everything from buildings to EVs. Rising copper usually means strong industrial demand.
The energy commodities most retail investors should know
Why energy matters for stocks: Oil prices set petrol costs, freight costs, and airline costs. High oil hurts consumer spending and airlines. It boosts energy company earnings. Both can be visible on the same day.
Precious metals (gold, silver) react to inflation expectations and fear. Industrial metals (copper, aluminium, nickel) react to real economic activity. The two groups often move in different directions.
Watch the gold-to-copper ratio. Gold rising faster than copper means investors are buying fear. Copper rising faster than gold means investors are buying growth.
Treating commodity price as a stock price. Commodities have no earnings, no dividends, no growth. They are valued purely on supply and demand.→ Fix: When researching commodity moves, think about supply (production, inventories) and demand (industrial use, weather, geopolitics). Not P/E ratios.
Confusing the commodity with the stocks that produce it. Oil at $90 does not mean ExxonMobil is up. The relationship is complex (production costs, hedges, dividends).→ Fix: Watch the commodity for the macro story. Research the individual stock for the specific story.
Buying commodity ETFs without understanding contango. Long-only oil ETFs (like USO) can underperform spot oil over the long run because they keep rolling futures contracts at higher prices.→ Fix: Read any commodity ETF’s prospectus before buying. Understand how it tracks the commodity.
Reading gold as just an inflation hedge. Gold reacts to many things: inflation, real yields, dollar strength, geopolitical fear. Sometimes it does what you expect, sometimes it does not.→ Fix: Gold is a complicated asset. If you hold it, hold it as a long-term diversifier, not a short-term inflation trade.
Ignoring agriculture entirely. Food inflation drives consumer sentiment and political stability. It deserves more attention than it usually gets.→ Fix: Glance at corn and wheat once a week. Big moves often precede headlines about cost-of-living concerns.
Agricultural commodities react to weather, planting cycles, and global demand. Prices can swing dramatically on a single drought report or harvest forecast.
Corn: the most-grown crop in the US. Used for ethanol, animal feed, and food. Rising corn pressures meat and dairy prices.
Wheat: a global staple. Big producers include the US, Russia, Ukraine. Geopolitics in producer countries can spike prices.
Soybeans: heavy export to China. Sensitive to trade policy and shipping disruptions.
Sugar and coffee: smaller markets but very volatile. Weather-driven.
In early 2022, WTI crude was trading near $80. Following the invasion of Ukraine in late February, WTI spiked above $120 within two weeks, peaking at roughly $123 in early March 2022. Brent crude reached almost $128.
On the dashboard, the impact rippled across more than just energy. Wheat surged over 50% as Russia and Ukraine are major exporters. US natural gas more than doubled by summer as European demand surged. Inflation pressure was visible in the commodity board long before it appeared in headline CPI prints.
The lesson: Investors watching commodities saw the inflation wave coming weeks before central banks were able to react with rate decisions. Energy and food prices in raw commodity form are real-time inflation signals. Headline CPI is a lagging confirmation.
This is a fixed historical case study, refreshed periodically. For current prices, use the dashboard above.
Bookmark this. Every term you will see on the dashboard or in commodity commentary.
A contract to buy or sell a commodity at a set price on a set future date. Traded on exchanges like CME and ICE.
West Texas Intermediate. The US benchmark price for crude oil.
The global benchmark price for crude oil. Tends to trade above WTI.
The current market price for immediate delivery. Different from the futures price for later delivery.
An asset investors buy when they are afraid. Gold and US Treasuries are classic safe havens.
When futures prices for later delivery are higher than the current spot price. Common in oil markets.
Quick answers before using the dashboard.
This tool is one research step. These articles teach the concepts behind it.
The US oil benchmark explained
Safe haven mechanics
Fear vs growth signal
GLD, USO, DBC and how they work
Why oil ETFs underperform spot oil
Why the relationship is not 1-to-1
Corn, wheat, soy, sugar
Real assets and the evidence
Use these tools to connect commodity prices with stocks, inflation and macro trends.
Connect commodities to CPI and jobs data
Compare commodity moves with equity markets
See energy and materials sector reaction
Check whether commodity moves are broad based
Commodity prices are sourced through TradingView and reflect futures market data from major exchanges including CME, ICE and LME. Spot prices are derived from interbank quotes for gold and silver.
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Open the dashboard to compare energy, metals and agricultural markets in one place.
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