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Investing 101 · Deep Guide

What is a commodity? The basics, explained.

19 min readUpdated May 2026

Learn what commodities are, the five main categories, how standardization makes them tradable on exchanges, and where price discovery happens globally.

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What this guide covers

Learn what commodities are, the five main categories, how standardization makes them tradable on exchanges, and where price discovery happens globally.

This guide is part of the Investing 101 series. Use the navigation below to read related guides, or go to the commodities directory to explore live price data.

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