When the skies cleared on Sunday, many backyard grills in our cabin-fevered neighborhood were fired up for the first time this year. The perfume of sizzling beef and pork that wafted over our street got me thinking about this spring's prospects for meat.

• Going long during contango
• The top performers
• Regulatory fire fizzles

• Why do returns between ETFs, ETNs and trusts differ?
• Rankings of 12 different commodities
• What a difference contango makes

• How endowments approach gold
• Is gold or GSCI a better diversifier?
• Why contango matters

The commodities expert shares his opinions on regulatory issues, the energy markets and the U.S. government's spending spree, among other topics.

• Alternative energy's brilliant future
• Is BRIC just a marketing scam?
• Sugar's sweet scope
   

• LSC vs. DJP: ETNs side by side
• Contango’s impact on both
• LSC’s shifting composition

After a $2-per-barrel boost in the NYMEX floor session Tuesday, October crude oil futures held steady at the $71 level overnight as traders prepared for the release of the U.S. Energy Department's weekly inventory report.

• Running out of storage space?
• The steepening contango
• The alternatives to UNG

• How BP's new find affects prices now
• The shape of the WTI curve
• Can the contango continue?

Investors, rather than traders, have had the advantage in the commodities markets this year. Largely, that's because stockholders can outlast highly leveraged futures traders while waiting for a trend to develop. Of course, you can always use an exchange-traded fund (ETF) as a proxy for futures to insulate yourself from margin calls.