Do you need to get livestock and meat commodity market education and training? Your manager wants you to understand how it works. For example, you’ll need to understand how prices and fundamental indicators can impact livestock commodities.

One place businesses check frequently is CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange). You’ll find the latest prices on cattle here. However, the commodities market involves more than knowing prices. Get your livestock and meat commodity market education and training through the followig methods:

1. Learn about the meat commodities market by using educational resources of commodity exchanges and brokers.

2. Rely on webinars to learn about the livestock and meat commodity market.

3. Understand meat commodities by going to seminars.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use educational resources of commodity exchanges and brokers for the meat commodities market

Don't overlook the educational resources that brokers and commodity exchanges provide. Their websites will have sections that focus on the basics of the livestock and meat commodity market. Then they'll continue into what determines the market price for the meat commodities market.

I recommend: Global Markets offers comprehensive livestock and meat commodity market education and training. It talks about how the market price is determined. CME is the exchange where traders trade livestock and meat contracts. This website offers several PDF documents that cover a wide range of topics in the livestock and meat commodities market. One of the documents focuses on the basics of the livestock and meat commodities market.

Learn about the livestock and meat commodity market via webinars

Webinars are an effective way to obtain livestock and meat commodity market education and training. Learn what the industry experts think the meat livestock market will be for the next six months or year. You can also learn about strategies traders are using to manage their risks, but yet maximize their profits.

I recommend: FCStone offers webinars on livestock futures. The webinars are free and last approximately an hour. Go AgWest also provides webinars on cattle commodities.

Attend seminars to gain knowledge on meat commodities

Make it a point to attend seminars on cattle futures. Not only will you meet industry experts, but you can learn about market forecasts. Keynote speakers can give you a heads up on what to expect in both the short and long term of the meat commodities market.

I recommend: Informa Economics has seminars on the livestock and meat commodity market. You can learn about what industry experts are forecasting in this market. Commodity Central also has seminars that forecast the cattle commodities market.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Develop the habit of listening to podcasts on meat commodities. Topics can be educational in that you can learn about new trends or economic events that are affecting this market.

Hog and cattle commodities give you another trading option when considering your investment plan. Commodity markets exchange raw or primary products with standardized contracts for the future delivery of physical raw materials. You invest in the probability of a good crop or livestock season.

Financial advisers recommend investing just partially in commodities such as meats futures since they are a risky investment. Many factors such as weather, feed, breeding patterns and the national economy can affect the season and the price of the stock. Stay on top of the national changes in market prices and trends and you'll have a better change of profiting from risky commodities.

To be successful in trading within the livestock and meat commodity market:

1. Monitor news and changes in the meat commodities market.

2. Check livestock commodities indexes daily to stay on top of the market.

3. Use a broker or dealer to help you trade meat commodities futures efficiently.

Action Steps
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Learn about livestock market commodities

Follow local, national and worldwide news reports to make more informed decisions about the commodities you choose to trade. The more you know about the industry the better you will do in the market. Be as involved as possible with your monetary investments, even if you trust a broker to manage your stocks and futures for you.

I recommend: Read market research reports and newsletters like Investor's Daily Edge to understand what's happening in the livestock industry. Get the official USDA livestock world market analysis and Chicago Board of Trade commodity news and predictions to make sure you're on top of the market trends and news.

Develop an investment plan to include hog or cattle commodities

Use price charts and predictions to decide how much you want to invest in the livestock and meat commodity market. Financial advisers recommend not spending more than 3 to 10% of your total investment funds on commodities since they are riskier and more volatile than stocks. Choose your futures carefully and start small to avoid too much risk.

I recommend: Research commodity brokers online to see which may work best for your situation. Check livestock-futures.com to learn how factors such as feeding, breeding and other factors can affect the price of stocks and futures. Browse CNN Money or MSN Money for daily and weekly charts, trends and prices to help you plan your investments.

Trade online or partner with a livestock market dealer or broker

Decide whether you want to trade meat commodities yourself or hire a broker to do it for you. If you're new to the commodity market you may find a broker easier to work with until you better understand the market. Brokers follow trends, news and predictions to give you expert opinions and suggestions.

I recommend: Contact Lind-Waldock in Chicago for meats futures trading advice and the ability to trade online or get broker assistance. Try GFT Futures and Go Futures for free to decide if you like the format of online trading. If you prefer to work directly with a broker consider a midwestern firm close to the livestock and meat commodity market, like Peacock Trading.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Work with a broker to develop your investment plan including stocks and futures in the meat livestock market. Be open to suggestions about the type of futures and amounts of money you invest in the market.
• •  Start small and work your way into the cattle futures market. Commodities futures and meat stock market investments can be very profitable but use caution to make sure you choose the right investments at the right times.

Livestock and meat commodity market key terms will help you understand more about investing in and trading hog and meat futures. Trading on futures for risk-takers, so if you're not knowledgeable about futures contracts, you need to learn as much as you can about the livestock and meat commodity market. Some of the key words and terms you need to know follow.

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Livestock and meat

The parameters of the definition for livestock and meat begin with the USDA, the United States Department of Agriculture.

I recommend: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines the different animal commodities markets. It also makes predictions on the number of commodities to be bought or sold during a season and follows outbreaks of avian flu, mad cow and so on (because disease will influence the buying and selling of livestock and meat commodities). It supplies trading information as well.

Commodity or commodities

A commodity is an item traded on an exchange. It's traditionally a perishable, such as meat or corn, but commodities can now refer to financial products or instruments.

I recommend: Investopedia defines commodity in both its general and its "investment" meaning.

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)

Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange are the two exchanges that buy and sell livestock and meat commodities. They merged a few years back and now form the CME Group. It is here that you will find the real-time prices of meat and hog commodities.

I recommend: CBOT and CME are the two exchanges you will need to follow if you're going to invest in trading futures contracts for livestock and meat. Click on "Commodity Products" on CME's website and you find a list of nearly everything that is termed a "commodity."

Futures contracts

A futures contract is the agreement to sell the livestock or meat on a specified date at a specified price. A futures contract is always traded on an exchange, not over-the counter. (Also, if you are investing this way as part of your financial plan, it is recommended you not invest more than 3-12 percent of your portfolio.)

I recommend: Investopedia's explanation of futures contracts is enlightening for newbies to this sort of investment. Also view Investor Words for another definition.

Commodity futures trading

Commodity futures trading is regulated by the US government.

I recommend: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission not only provides insight into the commodity futures trading market, but it is also a source of trading information including fraud prevention and awareness. It also provides analyses of economic factors and the law and regulations that bind the market.

Commodity price index

A commodity price index is an index of prices based on the average of the prices for a given commodity. There are about 10 indexes that measure the price and performance of commodities using the price of the futures contracts. These are used by traders to compare prices over time and are not usually available to individual investors. They are also very expensive.

I recommend: Commodity price indexes are not the same across the board. There are different modes of calculating the index price. Dow Jones Indexes gives a thorough explanation of how the prices are calculated and what they are used for.

Investing in the livestock and meat commodity market for your retirement portfolio can be a risky venture, but knowing when the market is doing well can be of large benefit to your financial gains. Several factors effect the outcome of livestock commodities from day to day, including the economy, breeding success and weather conditions (because a season without much rain means poor crops, which can result in a lack of food for livestock).

If you wish to invest in the meat commodities market, then you should keep apprised of the livestock and meat commodity market news and trends. Staying updated on a daily basis will help you know when it is best to invest or sell. Consider these means of finding information:

1. Reports on cattle commodity markets will help you to recognize trends.

2. A variety of blog posts may address cause and effect issues regarding the meat commodities market.

3. Livestock futures and forecasts can steer you in the right direction.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Examine reports on the meat livestock market

Reports present information on the past few days, weeks or months for the livestock market. This gives you an opportunity to recognize trends by comparing increases and decreases in market shares to news events. For example, meat commodities went down in 2003 when mad-cow disease reportedly hit the U.S. and again in early 2009 due to swine flu outbreaks. Recognizing what events coincide with changes in the livestock market will help you make smart investments.

I recommend: Go to Market Research for written livestock reports. Among the audio livestock and commodity reports provided by Brownfield is a morning livestock report airing Monday through Friday.

Consult blog posts on livestock commodities

Meat commodity blogs will also help you to recognize what societal events may contribute to the rise and fall of the meat stock market. Blog posters will likely draw these conclusions in a more direct fashion, provide you with investment advice, discuss indirect circumstances that may have some weight in what happens to livestock commodities and help you to recognize these cause and effect trends on your own.

I recommend: Commodity Trader and MB Wealth are among the many blogs available that address livestock commodities.

Watch meat futures to make smart investments before things change

While most people don't have the ability to predict the future, commodity forecasts examine industry trends and make predictions for how a particular investment will look in a day, week, month or year. Futures are a great guideline, but be sure not to depend on them alone in making your livestock commodity investment decisions. Forecast and outlook reports can only rely on trends in the numbers, and cannot take into account weather and livestock problems that may be lurking around the bend.

I recommend: The United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service provides outlook newsletters regarding livestock, dairy and poultry commodities. Visit the CME Group website for futures on live cattle, feed cattle, lean hogs and pork bellies.