the.com/commodity
Stuff so interchangeable that nobody cares whose it was, only what it costs.
means A basic good or raw material that can be bought, sold, and traded as a fungible unit — one barrel of oil, bushel of wheat, or ounce of gold being as good as any other.
from From Latin 'commoditas,' meaning fitness, convenience, or advantage — itself from 'commodus,' "suitable, fitting" (com-, "together," plus 'modus,' "measure"). It entered English through Old French 'commodité' and first meant something convenient or beneficial — a quality, an advantage. Only later did it harden into the sense of a useful thing you could trade, and finally into the cold market language of interchangeable goods. So a word that once meant 'just right for you' now means 'doesn't matter whose it is.'
- origin
- From Latin commoditas, meaning convenience or advantage
- famous bet
- Tulip bulbs once cost more than houses
- weird market
- Frozen orange juice has its own futures exchange
- the trap
- Becoming a commodity means price is your only edge
- oddity
- Pork bellies traded in Chicago for over fifty years
brent crude oil — traded at $90.50/barrel on ice in london, world's most-used oil benchmark
henry hub natural gas — traded at $2.89/mmbtu on nymex in 2024, us natural gas price standard
arabica coffee — traded at $2.30/lb on ice in 2024, comprises 60% of global coffee production
henry hub copper — traded at $4.15/lb on comex in 2024, critical for electrical and construction industries