When he or she makes a transaction for a customer, the customer pays a commission. There are several definitions of this word, but in the context of the City it describes raw materials used by industry and traded on specialist markets. There are two types of commodities. The word 'soft' describes commodities such as cocoa, coffee, tea, sugar and soya, while 'hard' commodities include metals like copper, aluminium and silver. They are dealt as 'spot' commodities for immediate delivery, and 'futures' for later delivery.
Many markets use limits which stop prices fluctuating too much as a way to control price volatility.
The main commodity markets are based in London, Chicago and New York. A US term for shares . One hundred pounds invested in the stock market in 1918 would be worth 884,714 today. Convertibles are bonds which include the right to convert into either ordinary or preference shares at a pre-agreed time in the future. Some types of convertible government bonds can be swapped for other types of government bonds.