Capital markets and commodities are tied together through capital flows. Money moves in and out of asset classes in somewhat predictable ways. Part of the trading game involves figuring out what the current relationships consist of. Another part of trading is figuring out when those relationships break down or change.

There are many ways to track these correlations or non-correlations. Some traders or firms spend large sums of money tracking the way markets move in relationship to one another. They utilize computing power and high level mathematics to hone their strategies. Many of these strategies revolve around micro structures, bids and offers on very short time frames, in related markets. Speed to market and trading costs play a role for these entities. Firms can trade tens or hundreds of thousands of contracts or shares in a single day.