Researching commodities is a very broad topic and there is no simple procedure that works for every commodity trader. In fact, do not expect to become an expert and sift through mounds of data when researching commodities. You just want enough information to make rational trading decisions.

Commodity Profiles

The first thing you want to do is learn about individual commodities. You want to know where, when and how a particular commodity trades.

You also want to know what news, reports and events move the market. You can find a great summary of this information at the commodity profiles page.

Commodity Research Reports

There are many commodity research firms that publish commodity reports daily or weekly. This can often be a great place to get more in-depth research on commodities and also get market opinions from the commodity analyst or trader who writes the reports. I usually don’t take trade recommendations from the reports, but it is good to know what traders are thinking.
Many futures clearing firms provide proprietary reports for their clients. There are also some good newsletters that you can read daily. I often read the Hightower Report (especially for the grain and livestock commodities) and the Gartman Letter. There are also some good free reports you can find online. FuturesBuzz.com has a good selection of commodity reports from several analysts.

Commodities News

Commodity traders can also check the daily news before the open of the markets and after the close to give them an idea on why the market is moving.

Futuresource is a good place to get free news on commodities and futures markets. Bloomberg also has some good commodities news throughout the day.