2010 Year in Review: Economic Woes Oil Demand for Commodities Data

Commodities data gained a new lease of life in 2010 as disappointing financial markets drove investors into the arms of more tangible investments, ranging from gold and silver exchange-traded-funds to less glittery energy and agricultural futures markets.

Demand for data has risen to the extent of prompting acquisitions, such as McGraw-Hill’s energy and metals data division Platts, which last week agreed to buy Colo.-based Bentek Energy, a privately held energy market analytics company, to give