How exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile act as trading referees

Futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell a standardized asset at a specific future time

When it comes to commodity trading, these legally binding agreements tend to operate on a monthly basis. Futures contracts are typically traded on futures exchanges, like those operated by CME Group and the Intercontinental Exchange.

The stock market, explained in 3 minutes

The stock market consists of a set of exchanges and other venues where shares of public companies are bought and sold. The Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange are two of the most well-known exchanges in the US, while major exchanges also operate around the world, including in Tokyo, Shanghai, London, and São Paulo.

Commodity trading is regulated by the CFTC to mitigate fraud and risk

Established in 1974, the CFTC regulates these markets (including swaps, futures, and certain types of options) to protect market participants from fraud, ensure fair trading conditions, and generally reduce financial risk.

Over-the-counter markets are used to bypass traditional exchanges while trading

Commodities are regularly traded via OTC markets so that buyers and sellers can bypass central exchanges and negotiate terms more directly. Before the advent of formal exchanges, most assets were traded OTC.

Retail investors can get exposure to commodities via various financial vehicles

While retail investors likely won't go out and purchase a bushel of commodity wheat to trade, they can get exposure to the commodities market via commodity ETFs sold on traditional stock exchanges like the NYSE and Nasdaq and other financial vehicles. There are benefits to adding commodities to a retail investor portfolio (such as a hedge against inflation and a typically low correlation with more traditional asset prices), experts caution that commodities are usually volatile investments.

There's a grading room on the eighth floor of the New York Stock Exchange where experts loudly slurp coffee and then spit it out to test its quality

Since many agricultural commodities are traded through futures, testers ensure that the physical product that reaches the market accurately reflects the price. Coffee graders at the NYSE have to pass a four-day-long exam that's only offered every five years and has a less than 10% pass rate.

Crypto exchanges are online platforms to buy, sell, and exchange cryptocurrencies

Crypto exchanges have grown alongside and fueled the boom in digital currencies. Popular exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance each have separate features, fee structures, and more. You can learn how to begin with the platforms, how to carry out research, and when to be aware of the associated risks.

What is the function of money?

Nearly everyone uses some form of money to facilitate day-to-day activities, but what is it, anyways? Economists define money as anything that can be accepted as final payment for goods and services. Shells, beads, corn, and a wide range of objects have acted as money throughout history—explore the common but deceptively abstract concept of money in this eight-minute podcast from the Federal Reserve.

Listen to a podcast that answers common questions about alternative investments

This podcast episode starts with an explanation of what alternative investments are, then goes on to explain how people use them to diversify their financial portfolios and answer some common questions about alternative investments. Notably, the host interviews a certified financial planner about the topic.

How prediction markets differ from sportsbooks matters for regulation

There are a number of differences and similarities between sportsbooks and prediction markets, despite both allowing people to bet on outcomes for sports-related events. For instance, prediction markets typically earn revenue through transaction fees rather than taking directional exposure to outcomes.

The memecoin casino

This podcast episode dives into the origin story of memecoins like Dogecoin and how people make money off of them in the crypto world.

Many investment bankers work on mergers and acquisitions

At some point in their careers, many investment bankers work on facilitating or advising clients on mergers or acquisitions. From analyzing industry group trends to deal negotiations, an M&A in investment banking explainer outlines how investment bankers handle these business transactions.

The interoperable metaverse and what that means

This explainer video explores the challenges of achieving the interoperability needed to unify economies, avatars and systems across virtual worlds in the metaverse.

A look at nodes and miners in managing bitcoin transactions

Each time a transaction involving bitcoin is carried out, the information must be relayed and recorded onto the currency’s blockchain. Multiple steps are involved, including the passage of the transaction to various nodes and miners who comprise multiple layers of verification and validation. See an illustrated guide to how these two crucial features of bitcoin processing work here.

Hear how gladiator fights were funded, judged, and sometimes fixed

In a wide-ranging interview, Professor Michael Carter unpacks the business of gladiatorial games—from advertising and fighter merch to referees, match rules, and a code of conduct that often pushed gladiators to spare defeated opponents.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Hear why one short seller thinks short selling is now more important than ever

Carson Block runs an investment research firm and hedge fund, Muddy Waters Research and Muddy Waters Capital. Block is known for being an activist investor focused on identifying fundamental business problems that might cause a stock to be overvalued. Block says a decrease in investigative financial journalism, deregulation, and less oversight of businesses overall have increased the scope and scale of fraud, making short sellers that suss out overvalued stocks incredibly important.

The commerce clause gives the federal government authority to regulate interstate economic activity

This short constitutional provision has allowed Congress to regulate everything from wheat production to racial segregation, greatly expanding federal power by linking national authority to interstate economic activity.

The surprising economics of sushi

How exactly does a patron of a sushi restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska, get to eat fresh fish caught off the coast of Japan? This episode of the Freakonomics podcast answers this question and explains the impressive feat. Listen to learn about the tricky economics and time-sensitive process behind importing fresh catches to sushi-lovers across America.

American Express is both a card issuer and a processing network

Unlike most credit card companies, American Express issues credit cards and processes payments—something called a closed-loop model. By offering both services, American Express profits from both interest and interchange fees, and also has access to more data on how customers spend their money so it can offer better perks.

The two-day marathon meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee follow a logical process of information sharing

In a stately room in the Eccles Building in Washington, DC, the 17 participants of the FOMC and their aides report on economic conditions and decide monetary policy.

Chicago's Ever restaurant is a Michelin favorite

If you’ve watched "The Bear," you’re familiar with the pristine kitchen at Ever, where fictional chef Carmen Berzatto cut his culinary teeth. But while Ever’s head chef is played by Olivia Coleman in the show, in reality, Curtis Duffy helms the Chicago restaurant. This video follows Duffy through the kitchen.

Escrow is when a third party holds on to the money during a financial negotiation between two other parties

In the homebuying process, escrow typically happens while the buyer and the seller negotiate the terms of the sale. Escrow accounts can also be used to hold a buyer’s money when making payments on their loan.

Learn about the chemical refinement of crude oil, from cracking to reforming and blending

Just as an organism's digestive system can break down complex molecules in food into simple sugars that cells can use, cracking uses catalysts and other chemicals to break apart large hydrocarbons in crude oil into smaller molecules. These can then be chemically reshaped, combined, or purified into useful petroleum products.

Inside MLB's robo-umping experiment

Human umpires call roughly 94% of pitches right overall, but performance reduces on borderline pitches in high-leverage moments, the calls that shape game outcomes most. A professor and historian analyze early experiments with the full "robot ump" system that helped shape MLB's decision to implement a compromise "challenge" system.

A podcast detailing the drug markets of East and Southern Africa

The African continent plays a critical role in the global illicit drug market. Often forgotten when discussing drug trafficking, organized criminal networks in Africa have established relationships with other criminal organizations around the world....

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.