To succeed as a futures trader, you need to think creatively about commodities. The story of Sam Brannan, California’s first millionaire, serves as an excellent example:
At the beginning of the 1848 Gold Rush, Sam Brannan, who owned a general store in Sutter’s Fort, discovered that John Sutter and James Marshall had discovered gold. Understandably, the discoverers wanted to keep the strike a secret. Brannan agreed, then quietly scoured northern California buying up every shovel, pick and pan he could find until he had cornered the market. He then went around town yelling, “We found gold!” and the Gold Rush was on. Hundreds of people flocked to northern California, all needing shovels, picks and pans to search for gold. And there was Sam, the only source for hundreds of miles around! Sam Brannan never lifted a shovel, never swung a pick, never shifted a pan in the search for gold, but he became the first millionaire of the Gold Rush — selling shovels.
