Which of the following is a characteristic of commodities?

The characteristic that commodities are traded on national exchanges is central to understanding how commodities function in the financial markets. National exchanges provide a regulated environment where commodities can be bought and sold, facilitating price discovery based on supply and demand dynamics. This trading structure allows for standardized contracts that can be executed by various market participants, from producers to investors, ensuring liquidity and transparency in the pricing of these assets.

Commodities encompass a wide range of products, including oil, gold, natural gas, and various agricultural goods, which dispels the misconception about them being exclusively agricultural. Additionally, they are physical assets rather than intangible, which misleads the notion of their asset classification. Commodities do not have fixed pricing structures; rather, their prices fluctuate based on market conditions, further highlighting the importance of their trading on exchanges for establishing current market values.