Free
What Is Livestock Trading?
What you'll learn
What livestock trading is and which animals are most commonly traded (e.g., live cattle, feeder cattle, lean hogs)
How livestock futures contracts work and where they’re traded (e.g., CME Group)
Key factors affecting livestock prices, including feed costs, weather, and global demand
Strategies for trading livestock: speculation, hedging, and spread trading
Risk management techniques specific to agricultural commodities
Free
Fundamentals of Oil & Gas Hedging
What you'll learn
What hedging is and why it’s vital in the oil & gas industry
Key instruments used in hedging: futures, options, and swaps
How to structure basic hedging strategies for producers and consumers
Real-world examples of hedging crude oil, natural gas, and refined products
The risks and limitations of hedging in energy markets
Free
Energy basis
What you'll learn
What energy basis means in crude oil, natural gas, and refined products markets
Key causes of basis risk: location, quality, transportation, and infrastructure constraints
How basis impacts producer revenue and hedging effectiveness
Hedging instruments used to manage basis risk, including basis swaps and spread trades
Real-world examples of basis hedging strategies and how they’re structured
Free
Oil & Gas Hedging with Swaps
What you'll learn
What commodity swaps are and how they differ from futures and options
How oil & gas companies use swaps to hedge price risk
Key components of a swap: fixed price, floating price, notional volume
Real-world examples of crude oil and natural gas swap strategies
Risks, benefits, and considerations when using swaps for hedging
Free
Oil & Gas Hedging – Put Options
What you'll learn
What put options are and how they function in commodity hedging
How oil & gas producers use puts to establish a price floor
Key terms: strike price, premium, expiry, and intrinsic value
Step-by-step examples of using puts to hedge crude oil and natural gas
The benefits and limitations of using puts compared to swaps and futures
Free
Developing an Energy Hedging Policy
What you'll learn
Why an energy hedging policy is important for risk management
Key components of a comprehensive hedging policy
How to define risk exposure, hedging objectives, and risk tolerance
Governance, controls, and reporting structures for policy enforcement
Best practices for reviewing, updating, and communicating the policy internally
Free
Forex Hedging
What you'll learn
The fundamentals of hedging and its role in the Forex market
Different types of hedging strategies (direct, cross, and options-based)
How to set up a hedge using Forex pairs, contracts, or options
Situations where hedging is beneficial — and when it’s not
How to manage and exit hedge positions effectively
Free
Introduction to Livestock
What you'll learn
Livestock Futures – Live Cattle
Live Cattle futures are designed to allow feedlot operators to hedge against a decline in price before they are able to sell the cattle for processing, and for buyers, such as meat packers, to manage the risk of an increase in the price of the cattle they are planning to purchase for processing, or to protect their profit margin for beef they have committed to ship in the future.
Live Cattle futures trade in units of 40,000 pounds and in minimum price increments of $10.00. They are listed for trading in the even months of February, April, June, August, October and December. Live Cattle is a physically-delivered futures contract, meaning that live steers are ultimately delivered. There are specific standards in terms of the quantity and USDA grade of cattle that can be delivered. The details on the delivery requirements and procedures for Live Cattle futures can be found in the CME Rulebook on the CME Group website.
Lean Hogs
Lean Hogs refers to a hog that is ready for processing at about 275 pounds. Hogs are mainly produced in the Midwest, and it typically takes about six months for a pig to become market-ready. The carcass of a market hog weighs about 200 pounds and will typically yield about 155 pounds of lean meat, which is the core of the lean hog futures contract.
Lean Hog futures allow sellers and buyers, such hog producers and packers, to manage the risk of adverse price movements in their operations. Lean Hog futures trade in units of 40,000 pounds of hog carcasses and in minimum price increments of $10.00. They are listed in February, April, May, June, July, August, October and December. As with Feeder Cattle, Lean Hog futures are settled in cash at expiration, to at a price equal to the CME Lean Hog Index on the last day of trading.
