Commodities attract automated traders because they trend and move. They also punish naive automation, because their volatility differs sharply from major currency pairs. This is a neutral primer — not a forecast.
Commodities are not one thing
- Precious metals (silver, platinum) share some of gold's drivers but tend to be more volatile.
- Energy (oil, natural gas) is driven by supply and demand: inventories, production decisions, geopolitics, seasonality.
- Agriculture adds weather and harvest cycles.
The common thread: commodity prices respond to physical-world events arriving as reports or sudden headlines.
What this means for automation
- Bigger moves, bigger gaps. Position sizing must reflect the larger swings.
- Wider, variable spreads. A spread filter is not optional.
- News sensitivity. Inventory and production reports move markets hard.
- Contract specifics. Tick value and contract size vary; confirm them before sizing.
A neutral framework
Rather than predicting silver or oil, build automation that skips wide-spread conditions, pauses around scheduled reports, and sizes to each instrument's real volatility. AeronPilot's spread, news and risk controls apply per instrument.
This article is educational and neutral; it is not a market forecast or financial advice. Trading involves substantial risk.