One of the benefits of investing in commodities is you know some overnight news isn't going to plop the stock to zero. The eft DBA tracks a basket of ags (see etfconnect.com ) and provides an alternative to futures/options trading. Another way to invest in commods is thru spreads, via The Encylopedia of Comomodity and Financial Spreads. The book is an anthology of computer selected high-probability spreads (~90% hit ratio). It details each spread with graphs/stats and summarizes the best year's trades with a chronological summary. Another must for commodity trading is The Commodity Traders Almanac. The chart in there shows a seasonal drop in May, so be careful. Another great tool: http://www.mfglobalfutures.com/resources/getquotes.cfm?page=cspread