Commodities markets offer an investment platform for buyers and producers at one end of the spectrum, and speculators at the other end. So in reality the commodities market can be as risky or relatively safe as you make it. Buying and selling futures to protect positions or taking a gamble on short-term price movements provides huge liquidity in the more popular commodity markets. The existence of leverage, by trading on the margin, attracts many speculators but as we know leverage is a double edged sword.