When you start learning to trade commodities you will find yourself seeing commodity futures trading in a completely new light. Whether it is in a particular sector such as coal or copper or maybe across the whole range of commodity markets, your knowledge of these trading products will grow. Many have heard the mention of the New York Mercantile Exchange and crude oil trading against the background of a growing energy security concern and how many factors influence prices. Consider also what are the driving forces of prices in gold, palladium and other precious metals, and why do sugar prices spike?