How to Invest in Commodities Funds

Commodities -- the seemingly unstoppable growth of prices therein -- has been a hot topic for investors in recent months.

Traditionally, exposure to commodities has been achieved using futures contracts on individual materials such as metals or agricultural output. These highly leveraged vehicles offer huge rewards at equally lofty levels of risk.

Paul Brigandi, portfolio manager of the Direxion Commodity Trends Strategy Fund(DXCTX Quote), agreed to answer some questions about the commodities markets.

Brigandi will discuss alternative ways to gain exposure to commodities that avoid the wild volatility as well as the leverage of as much as 50-to-1 associated with some commodity futures contracts. It turns out that alternative investments in commodities are available. They offer ways to hedge against inflation in addition to potentially lowering the overall volatility of an investor's total holdings. ...