Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) articles from December 2004

Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) archives from December 2004

Love fest.(Editorial)
December 1, 2004... In case you missed it, there was a lunar eclipse during the Futures Industry Association Expo recently in Chicago. The eclipse, which is a rarity, perhaps was one of those celestial indicators of things to come. Like a blue moon, it signaled an...

Play it straight.(Sound Off!)
December 1, 2004... Re: "Storm Warning--How Social Mood Moves Markets," the opening comment from Robert Prechter neglects to mention that he bankrolled the "independent" filmmaker to make his documentary on socionomics. Should we assume that the rest of the...

Clearing up the crush.(Sound Off!)
December 1, 2004... I was quite disturbed to read the negative letter regarding my 4/3/8 Cattle Crush in your October issue. I have received so much positive feedback since the article was published, that I feel I need to set the record straight. Here is my...

Patent roulette: technology patent threatens status quo.(Trendlines)(cases of E-Speed and Trading Technologies)
December 1, 2004... There was a nervous undercurrent at the recent Futures Industry Conference in Chicago stemming from the breadth of market patents awarded to Trading Technologies and the subsequent settlements of two infringement lawsuits TT initially filed....

Chartview: spreading the wealth.(Trendlines)(Chicago Merchants' Exchange)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... On the last trading day in October, the CME announced that CEO Craig S. Donohue and President Phupinder Gill were establishing stock trading plans for divesting themselves of CME stock--plans designed to help the two CME executives diversify...

What a concept ... Nymex opens Dublin pit-trading exchange.(Trendlines)(New York Mercantile Exchange)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has baffled many in the futures industry with its strategy for expansion and defending its place as the premier energy trading exchange. While in no hurry to list its Comex division metals contracts...

Going global ... finally: global clearing on horizon.(Trendlines)
December 1, 2004... Just as the death of the Chicago exchange community may have been greatly exaggerated, so may be that community's declaration of victory over Eurex US. The first phase of Eurex US' global clearing link was launched in October. The link promises...

Competition heating up.(International News)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Competition over the world's most liquid short-term interest rate products is heating up as Liffe has announced a fee rebate program to begin this December. The move follows the exchange consistently setting exchange volume records in its newly...

ABN Amro amorous in China.(International News)(ABN AMRO Bank N.V and China Galaxy Securities)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... ABN Amro has struck a deal with China Galaxy Securities, China's largest broker, to trade futures products. Some suspect the deal opens the door for considerable growth in futures trading in China, particularly when trading in financial futures...

Tocom gets its India fix.(International News)(Tokyo Commodity Exchange and Multi Commodity Exchange of India)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (Tocom) and the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) have signed a memorandum of understanding in which Tocom will develop products and advise MCX. Tocom's entry into India is the first by a foreign exchange...

32 years of Futures ...(Trendlines)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Futures has thrived for more than three decades by providing unbiased tips, news, profiles, advice and current market analysis. Here, we spotlight some events Futures has covered during its 32 years. This flashback includes some articles from...

Quips and quotes.(Trendlines)
December 1, 2004... The mood surrounding the 2004 Futures Industry Association Futures and Options Expo in Chicago was much less combative this year than in the previous two, but that does not mean that there weren't serious issues being discussed. The below...

Jaycobs joins Clearing Corp.(Trading Places)(appointments)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Richard Jaycobs is responsible for all of the business development at the Clearing Corp. as its new senior vice president. "This includes everything from developing our clearing initiatives right through to developing all of the technology...

Registration is coming but not soon.(Managed Money Review)
December 1, 2004... On Oct. 26 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted by a margin of three to two to require hedge fund advisors to register with the SEC despite widespread opposition by the President's working group. The approval was a bit of...

Cocoa in crossfire.(Hot Commodities)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Cocoa futures have been whipsawed by political instability in varying degrees since a 1999 coup in the Ivory Coast made political unrest the most constant fundamental factor on the market. Recent violence has caused cocoa futures to rally $163...

Fat cattle worth less.(Hot Commodities)
December 1, 2004... Increased imports, decreased exports and higher weight cattle have pushed December live cattle futures lower despite an agreement from Japan to begin importing U.S. beef. The agreement between the United States and Japan to lift the...

Euro up, $ down.(Hot Commodities)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... While the Presidential election results appeared very bullish for the stock market it also appeared to be a mandate for the administrations weak dollar policy. The dollar has dropped precipitously in the week following the election particularly...

U.S. economy dictates dollar strength.(Market Strategy)
December 1, 2004... In early 2004, bearish dollar sentiment was prevalent. Yet, except for the first five weeks of trading, the greenback has traded comfortably above opening year levels. The value of any currency is determined by the strength of the economy...

What markets look hot for 2005?(MARKETS)
December 1, 2004... With the election here and gone, will the stock market and bonds find their footing? What about commodities? While grains presented opportunities in 2004, softs and metals may be the movers and shakers next year. As for energies, crude oil...

Tech talk: pundits say sell, so buy the buck?(MARKETS)
December 1, 2004... The U.S. Dollar index is forming a multi-month low. One sure sign is all the bad press that it is getting all over the world. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] "The Greenback Could Be On the Edge of a Cliff," forecasts the headline in a Financial...

Moments of opportunity for 2005.(Forex Trader)
December 1, 2004... While most people were watching the election returns, forex traders were scanning the currency pairs looking for trades. Did the market anticipate the results? Did technical patterns offering winning trades emerge? The EUR/USD five-minute...

Better trading system analysis: you obviously shouldn't judge a trading system by its marketing materials. But, not so obviously, neither should you judge it by many of the performance measures frequently accepted throughout the industry. A more complete analysis of trading system performance is necessary.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
December 1, 2004... Many of us have endeavored for years to find publicly available trading systems that turn profits and live up to marketing claims. However, standard hypothetical performance reports have many shortcomings, can be misleading and are often...

Gann vs. geometric angles: angles drawn on price charts are similar to trendlines except that they are not drawn with the benefit of hindsight. Two approaches to such angles, geometric angles and Gann angles, are similar but they are not the same. Here is how to apply each.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
December 1, 2004... Analysts sometimes attempt to equate the line slopes known as Gann angles, with line slopes commonly known as geometric angles. If the intent is to illustrate Gann angles and approximate them to geometric angles, then there is agreement. ...

Selling options on futures: option selling can be a risky proposition, but it also has distinct and consistent rewards for those who approach it properly. In this first of a series, we'll introduce the subject of options selling from the perspective of the average individual trader.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
December 1, 2004... Selling options on futures is a mysterious--even ominous--strategy for average retail traders. By selling, we are referring to opening a new position, not selling an option you already own. Some wonder whether there is any reason to sell...

Selling the strangle in forex options: currencies generally are good trending markets, but when the trends dry up, many currency traders give back profits. But if you understand option strangles, you can position yourself well for any forex market environment.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
December 1, 2004... The rising popularity of forex trading is drawing novice and experienced investors alike to both the electronically traded Chicago Mercantile Exchange forex futures and off-exchange forex dealers to try their hand at outguessing the pros at...

The science of pattern-based trading: we continue our series on pattern-based systematic trading and demonstrate an approach that makes money over a basket of markets and a range of parameter inputs.(TECHNOLOGY & TRADING)
December 1, 2004... In last month's article about trading patterns, we tested the classic opening range breakout pattern on a basket of markets as both a day-trade and as a position trade by holding it until the next day's close. We employed scientific method by...

Futures trading with gaps: price gaps are the simplest of technical indicators, but that doesn't mean properly analyzing them is easy. There are several types of gaps and they have entirely different implications for the market.(FUTURES 101)
December 1, 2004... The technical study of price gaps provides information regarding future price direction and move duration. As John Murphy defined in Charting Made Easy, gaps are "simply areas on the bar chart where no trading has taken place." An upside...

Membership has its privileges.(MANAGED MONEY)
December 1, 2004... Futures exchanges have recently created new fee categories to increase volume from high velocity traders. Proprietary trading shops and arcades are either receiving member rates or a significant reduction from customer rates. Commodity trading...

Getting educated the online way.(Online Trading)
December 1, 2004... One of the biggest challenges online traders have had to deal with is the availability of countless contracts and markets traded electronically, although this provides as many opportunities as it does confusion. The good thing is that...

Top 50 brokers: if 2003 was a year of change for the futures industry, 2004 is a year that brokers reaped the benefit of efficiencies brought on by that change. Volume continued to grow at both the retail and institutional levels and the promise of increased exchange competition bore fruit in lower fees and increased volume.(Illustration)(Cover Story)
December 1, 2004... As opposed to recent years, 2004 started off with more promise than controversy. The battles within the industry had been fought and the parties struck their own balance of power. The Chicago Board of Trade/Chicago Mercantile Exchange...

Contract dates.(Dateline)(Calendar)
December 1, 2004... 1 FND: BM & F Alcohol F, Nymex Palladium F, Platinum F. LTD: BM & F Alcohol OF. [TABLE OMITTED] 2 FND: BM & F Arabica coffee F. 3 LTD: CME CME $ Index OF, Currencies OF, Live cattle OF, Butter OF, Nybot Crossrates OF, Dollar Index...

Events coming up.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
December 1, 2004... Call the numbers listed for more information. For other seminars, see the classifieds on pages 76-81. Investment Company Institute Securities Law Development Conference. DEC. 6-7. Washington. www.futuresindustry.org. (202) 466-5460. ...

Bondurant: trading on Old Man River.(Trader Profile)(John Bondurant)(Biography)
December 1, 2004... John Bondurant planned on a career in law despite a family legacy of speculating in the futures markets. Bondurant's father was a cotton merchant who was a member of the New York Cotton Exchange and an active speculator in softs. When Bondurant...