In connection to the process of financialization of commodity markets which is caused by the sharp increase of money flowing into the commodity markets, the question of which factors affect commodity and commodity indices prices is discussed. The aim of the dissertation is to determine and quantify the factors affecting the prices of industrial metals during the period of financialization of commodity markets and derive the pricing model of industrial metals, which would be able to generate signals of a possible overvaluation or undervaluation. The paper examined non-ferrous industrial metals traded on the Commodity Exchange LME (London Metal Exchange), namely aluminum, copper, lead, nickel, tin and zinc. These metals are also included in the most of the world's composite commodity indices. The dissertation analyzes the contemporary developments in commodity markets; relationship between the price volatility and fundamental factors (including production, consumption and stocks of chosen metals and a wide range of macroeconomic determinants) or the relationship between risk and return of industrial metals. The closing part of the dissertation focuses on the creating of composite pricing indicator for copper and tin by using the Boosted Trees method. The results obtained in the research show that created indicator is able to explain the volatility of the 3m copper futures contracts by 94.25% and 3m futures contracts of tin by 96, 79% in the period from 1/2000 to 3/2015.

Housing debts have become fuel for the global economy, having been turned into tradable commodities on the financial markets. However, housing debts also have a profound relevance in the everyday life of those who have become indebted, enabling the dream of homeownership, but also leading to foreclosures and evictions. This thesis aims to take a rather under-researched perspective on formal and informal housing debts (i.e., mortgages and familial loans) by exploring the role of public and domestic discourses in, what is termed, the financialisation of housing. The financialisation of housing refers to the process of real estate being turned into assets and commodities and to the spread of individualised financial products being used to secure housing. The thesis uses the Czech Republic as a case through which to examine how discourse may enable this transition and how contribute to a specific financial governmentality. The thesis raises questions: How is it possible that mortgages come to be perceived as a normal and natural solution to housing issues? How do they become part of the debtors' lives through certain discourses? These questions are explored through an innovative framework of layered performativity, encompassing rhetoric, sociotechnical devices, and references to practices that reveal three main...

This thesis studies the impact of shale gas on commodity and stock markets in the U.S. by employing wavelet approach and conducting a time-frequency analysis of dynamic correlations between natural gas and important representatives of commodity markets: crude oil, coal, corn, wheat, and several indices. It covers the period from 2006 to 2015 and is performed on daily data. Our thesis enlarges existing literature on comovement between natural gas with other energy commodities and stocks using wavelet coherence - a methodology which allows analyzing comovement among assets not only from a time series perspective but also over different frequencies. Financialization of natural gas and its involvement in investment portfolios under changing conditions on the U.S. gas market provide space for examination of gas proper correlation estimates in respect to other financial assets. Our results reveal natural gas comovement behaviour with examined commodities during the Financial Crisis. They show gradual decoupling between gas and crude oil prices in time. To the best of our knowledge we are the first to address natural gas using wavelet coherence in connection to agricultural commodities corn and wheat. These commodities together with natural gas are primary sources for bioethanol production being used in...