Investors are more than ever keeping an eye out  for investment opportunities in commodities and for good reason. There is tremendous demand from emerging market economies. In fact countries like China are fueling their engines for growth as they generate increased demand for commodities.

Consider this fact: Car sales in China, are up 28% so far this year with 12 million cars sold, which compares with 11 million sold so far this year in the United States.

Thomas Samuelson, chief investment officer at Advanced Equities Asset Management considers commodities as a separate asset class that is in the midst of a secular bull market cycle. He notes in Investment News that investors need to look beyond traditional calculations related to U.S. consumption of raw materials.

"Commodities are riding the consumption curve, and there's still a long way to go," he says.  For example, Samuelson commented that China consumes 1.2 barrels of oil per person per year. In the United States, the consumption rate is 26 barrels per person per year.

"If China just goes from 1.2 barrels of oil to 4 barrels, that creates 10 million barrels a day worth of incremental demand, and there's only 6 million barrels per day of spare capacity right now." Samuelson said. "We're riding the consumption curve as places like China and India go from bikes to mopeds to cars."

Smart investors know the ups and downs of investing in commodities. But hardly anyone believes the demand from countries like China, India and others is likely to stall. Sure, you've heard lots about gold and silver which usually get all the attention for their hedge against a weaker dollar. However, aluminum has gained 53% this year, zinc is up 93% and copper gained 114%.

Mr. Samuelson, whose firm manages more than $500 million, will allocate up to 9% in balanced portfolios to commodities, according to Investment News.