CRB Index Components
As the CRB Index grabs more and more headlines attention, an investor needs to understand the commodities that make up the index. For more then 50 years, the CRB Index as served as the most widely recognized measure of the commodities markets. The index is comprised of 19 commodities with agriculture comprising 41% of the index followed by energy at 39%. Crude oil is by far the largest individual component at 23% followed by numerous commodities at 6% such as Copper, Corn, and Live Cattle. Yes, that's correct. Live Cattle ties for the 2nd biggest component in the index. The index likely does an exceptional job of capturing the cost changes to the market. Crude oil is by far the largest commodity used and hence the largest expense to the US economy. For investors though, this index doesn't exactly capture the investment environment. Precious metals such as Gold make up only 7% of the index. From an investment standpoint, most of the commodities offer equal opportunities for in...