The CRB Commodity Yearbook 1997

Since 1939, professional traders, commercial hedgers, portfolio managers, and speculators around the world have come to rely on The CRB Commodity Yearbook to help them navigate the uncertainties of the commodity markets.

The single most comprehensive source of commodity and futures market information available, the Yearbook is the book of record of the Commodity Research Bureau, which is, in turn, the organization of record for the commodity industry itself. Its sources —reports from governments, private industries, and trade and industrial associations —are authoritative, and its historical scope is second to none.

Breadth and depth of information make the Yearbook indispensable for identifying changing trends in supply and demand and for projecting important price movements. The 1997 edition provides crucial information on 105 domestic and international commodities —from alcohol to gold to zinc —and includes seasonal patterns and historical data from the past ten years as well as current (as of the last three months) pricing and trading patterns on a monthly and annual basis.

The information is formatted to make researching a particular commodity as convenient as possible. Each commodity is introduced by a brief article that describes its salient features, pricing trends in recent years, and factors —be they droughts, wars, diseases, or politics —that have influenced prices in the past, and may do so in the future. The data itself is presented in over 900 tables, graphs, and price charts that are clear and easy to read.

Also featured are major articles on key markets and important issues by prominent professionals in the commodity industry that have been commissioned exclusively for the Yearbook. This newest edition includes "The Amber Waves of History —200 Years of Grain Prices" by Hugh Ulrich and "The Seasonality of Volume and Open Interest" by Ken Shaleen.

For the wealth of its information and the authority of its sources, The CRB Commodity Yearbook 1997 stands alone as a guide to intelligent trading in commodities and futures.

The single most comprehensive source of commodity and futures market information available

Since 1939, professional traders, commercial hedgers, portfolio managers, and speculators have come to regard The CRB Commodity Yearbook as the "bible" of the industry. Here is a wealth of authoritative data, gathered from government reports, private industry, and trade and industry associations, all compiled by the Commodity Research Bureau, the organization of record for all the commodity industry itself.

Absolutely essential for identifying changing trends in supply and demand and for projecting important price movements, the Yearbook gives the investor:

• Worldwide supply/demand and production/consumption data for all the basic commodities and futures markets —from A(luminum) to Z(inc), including all the major markets in interest rates, currencies, energy, and stock index futures
• Over 900 tables, graphs, and price charts of historical data, most of them covering the last eight to ten years
• Concise introductory articles that describe the salient features of each commodity and help put the quantitative information in perspective
• Articles by prominent professionals on key markets and important issues concerning the commodity industry. The 1997 Yearbook features "The Amber Waves of History —200 Years of Grain Prices" by Hugh Ulrich and "The Seasonality of Volume and Open Interest" by Ken Shaleen.

For anyone dealing in commodities, The CRB Commodity Yearbook 1997 offers an abundance of valuable information and indispensable guidance for decision making.

COMMODITY RESEARCH BUREAU, a division of BRIDGE Information Systems America, Inc., is the country′s largest resource for financial statistics, historical data, and charting services. Its information is available on software, online, and CD–ROM, and through newsletters, charting services, and wire reports. Located in Chicago and closely associated with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, the company is regarded as the leading source of information on international and domestic commodity movements.