What are commodities and how do they differ from other financial instruments?

Commodities are basic goods that are traded in the market, including raw materials such as crude oil, natural gas, metals like gold, silver, copper, agricultural products like wheat, corn, coffee, sugar, and livestock like cattle, hogs, etc. They are different from other financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, or currencies, which represent ownership in companies, debt obligations, or legal tender issued by governments. Commodities, on the other hand, represent the physical goods themselves and their price is mainly determined by supply and demand factors in the market.