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Even if you don't think you do, you already know plenty about commodities. Want us to prove it? No problem.
What makes oil produced in Saudi Arabia different from oil exported from Nigeria? It's the same thing that makes the corn you ate at last summer¿s barbecue different from the corn used to produce ethanol. Stumped? Well, don't feel bad, it's a trick question. The answer? Absolutely nothing. Corn is corn no matter where it comes from -- just as wheat is wheat and natural gas is -- right! -- natural gas. (Though the quality may differ, the make-up is uniform.)
So, in less elaborate terms, corn and oil (and all other commodities) are homogenous goods that can be processed, resold and more often than not, used as an input to the production of other goods or services. These goods are traded on a commodity exchange, thus setting the price-per-barrel (or other metric unit) used to value them.
Now pay attention, here's a question that indeed does have an answer: What is the difference between a commodity and a stock? While a stock can tank and become worthless, a commodity cannot have its value be wiped to zero. One other difference: Most commodities are traded in futures, meaning traders buy and sell where they think the price of a product will be at a certain point in the future. Stocks trade based on the value of the underlying company at that point in time.
Home / Personal Finance / On Topic / Sports
Friday, February 01, 2008
What it Costs Mom and Dad to Try and Get Junior to the Olympics
Kathryn Elizabeth Tuggle
FOXBusiness
NEW YORK--As a parent, helping your children realize their dreams is part of the job description, and nurturing talent often comes with
a hefty price tag. For parents of children who try to reach the Olympic or other highly competitive level in sports, the time
and monetary commitments can be substantial.
Tracey Diescher, whose 14-year-old daughter Marissa is training to become
an Olympic softball player, said her family spends approximately $15,000 a year on Marissa’s sport activities and classes.
“We
have tournaments on the weekends where you have to travel, and I have to either take off work, or my husband has to take off
work. The travel almost always involves overnight stays in hotels and meals out. And that’s almost every weekend in June,
July and August,” Diescher said.
Marissa
attends hour-long lessons two times a week at the training facility Pro Prospects, based in her hometown of Monticello, New
York. Lessons cost $110 per week, and the batting cages, which she uses twice a week, cost $20 for an hour. Marissa also participates
in national “Travel Ball” tournaments that take her everywhere from Florida to Connecticut, and carry a fee of $650 per season.
Although
Diescher admitted the time and money spent to help Marissa make it to the Olympics is a sacrifice, she said she believes her
daughter “absolutely positively has what it takes to go pro and get a [college] scholarship. We know she can’t get to that
level just from pitching in our front yard," Diescher said.
Though Marissa’s lessons cost $55 each, her coach, Steve
Pinto, said that’s cheap compared to training prices in athletic hotbeds.
“Fees are usually $80 [per lesson] elsewhere,
but we want to be able to work with the kids who want to work,” Pinto said. Pro Prospects sponsors four children’s scholarships
each year, and even lets some children take lessons in exchange for chores such as cleaning the shop and putting away equipment.
At
the Ice Vault Arena in Wayne, New Jersey, Skating School Director Karen Cohen-Prosnitz said parents spend approximately $20,000
a year to help their child make it to the competitive level. Lessons range from $47 to $60 per half hour, not including the
$14 per hour ice fees.
“I don’t think many parents like to think of it as an annual cost, because then it becomes overwhelming,”
Cohen-Prosnitz said. “You can price yourself right out of this sport. Because the cost of energy keeps going up, it costs
more to keep the ice frozen, and that’s reflected in the ice fees and lesson price.”
Cohen- Prosnitz’s 13-year-old
daughter, Rachel, has been skating since she was three.
“It opens doors when you’re in a sport like this,” Cohen-Prosnitz
said. “You meet people from around the world, it’s good exercise, and I always know where she is. As a parent, just saying
to your kids, ‘I’ll see you tonight,’ is a frightening concept. Here [at the rink], she's safe."
Rachel now trains
more than 10 hours a week on the ice, and four hours per week in off-ice classes, such as ballet and core muscle training.
“I
was always into the dresses,” Rachel Prosnitz said of her inspiration to start skating. “I know I am trying to get somewhere
[in this sport], I’m just not exactly sure where. I know it’s something I want to do competitively, and it would be really
cool to be on TV,” she said.
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