Commodities in the spotlight

Why are ETFs and exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) efficient vehicles for tapping the commodities sector? Are there any commodities that are otherwise hard to access?   Howard Atkinson: ETFs and ETCs offer several advantages over direct investing in physical commodities or futures. Investors can access ETFs and ETCs in a regular brokerage account. ETFs and ETCs have low minimums – they trade in broad lots of 100 shares, although just one share can be traded. Trading profits are generally taxed as capital gains in most jurisdictions. ETFs and ETCs are also marginable, but can be fully...