Gold vs. platinum:Precious yet volatile spread

摘要

The simultaneous purchase and sale of different but economically related futures contracts is called an intercommodity spread. This type of spread is employed best if the link between the markets is strong. Often, this means they must belong to the same commodity group, such as soybeans and their products or crude oil and it products. Similarly, it helps if they are interchangeable in use, such as wheat and corn for feed, or be produced from the same raw materials, such as heating oil and gasoline. Some intercommodity spreads are standardized and are traded on exchanges as separate and individual contracts. Some other spreads, although they still are popular - for instance, platinum and gold -require purchasing and selling separate contracts to create the spread position.