Global markets continued their recovery from last week's wave of selling as solid corporate earnings and a better than expected industrial confidence survey in Germany helped boost spirits. The pound recovered against the dollar and the euro, while crude oil prices firmed with Brent futures trading at $54.80/barrel. UK stocks built on Monday's strong close with a 1.4% gain in the FTSE 100 ...

The broadest definition of a commodity would see it classed as a good which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market. What does this mean in real terms? Well, copper has a universal price which fluctuates on a daily basis in reaction to supply and demand. In contrast a produced good such as a smartphone is priced according to a number of different variables ...