Commodity markets have been the worst casualties of all markets in 2011. Their corrections have not only sliced significant value from their peaks but their down turns have continued to grind investors down near the lows. For the most part, there have been very few bounces giving investors a chance to get out at a better price. Copper is often referred to as the metal with a PhD in economics. It may be used as an indication of commodity markets in general. But as you’ll see from the charts below of copper and other commodities, copper has held up better than most despite a 30% decline. Some of the out performing commodities in 2010 and into 2011 have suffered big declines. Coffee was hot until May but has since fallen 30%, trading just above the low. Cotton was another big winner but its 2011 correction has seen it plunge 50%. Like most commodities, it also trading near its low. Commodity markets may be traded with exchange traded funds (E.T.F.).Most are traded in the U.S. markets. There are also numerous agriculture E.T.F.’s covering grains (JJG), corn (CORN), and soybeans (SOYB). Inverse or bear E.T.F.’s are also available, some of them with two times performance such as the TSX traded copper inverse E.T.F. HKD. CommodityMarketE.T.F. SymbolCotton BALTin JJTCoffee JOSugar SGGCopperJJC, HKU-tsxCommodity bulls have had a bad year if they didn’t exit early in the correction. Recent buys may look attractive compared to the distance highs, but there are no indications commodity prices are rebounding. The U.S. dollar remains in an up trend against most major currencies including the resource currencies such as the Australian dollar and the Canadian dollar. Some analysts are speculating the Japanese Yen is the next currency that is about to fall victim to an appreciating greenback that had been in a significant longer term decline. Those who are leaning on a resurgence in commodity prices and the secular commodity bull market are counting on a resumption in the U.S. dollar’s longer term decline. Resource stock investors are doing the same as the TSX has been a considerable laggard to the U.S. market as many resource stocks have been hammered.See other 2011 Year In Review stories. Try the Trade Tip sign up for an email alert for the timing on a resurgence in leading commodity markets.