This past week was a big week for commodities. Immediately following the announcement of the Federal Reserve’s 3rd quantitative easing program, commodities, especially precious metals, shot up as the value of the US Dollar crumbled. Apparently the only path to economic growth and eventually full employment is by continuously printing money, because the Fed’s $40 billion-a-month program to buy assets will do just that. And the fact that there’s no timeline for the program’s termination provides the commodity markets with the fuel needed to surge forward for the foreseeable future.

The GSCI Commodity Index ((GSG)) consists primarily of Energy (71%), but also contains Agriculture (14%), Industrial Metals (7%), Livestock (4%), and Precious Metals (4%).

The Dow Jones-AIG Energy Total Return Index ((JJE)) consists of Natural Gas, Crude Oil, Heating Oil, and Unleaded Gas.

The DJ-AIG Grains Total Return Index ((JJG)) consists of Corn, Wheat, and Soybeans.

The DJ- AIG Industrial Metals Total return Index ((JJM)) includes Aluminum, Copper, Nickel, and Zinc.

The DJ-AIG Precious Metals Index ((JJP)) includes Gold and Silver.

The DJ-AIG Softs Index ((JJS)) includes Coffee, Cotton, and Sugar.