Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) articles from February 2006

Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) archives from February 2006

Taking the long view.(EDITOR'S NOTE)
February 1, 2006... Last November during a conversation with Chicago Board of Trade Chairman Charlie Carey, we discussed the successful initial public offering launched by the CBOT. He mentioned Bernie Carey, his uncle and a CBOT trader of long ago, rang the bell...

More alternative investments.(Sound Off!)
February 1, 2006... I read your managed money piece "Alternatives abound," January 2006. Nicely done. Steve Lamb, via e-mail Thank you. Futures will soon expand our performance reporting of the alternative investment arena in the Managed Money Review...

Top 50 brokers?(Sound Off!)
February 1, 2006... Every year we get questions about how we collect data for our annual December Top 50 Brokers story. Futures faxes a questionnaire to the top 70 or so futures commissions merchants based on current segregated fund data provided by the...

John Geldermann.(Geldermann Inc.)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
February 1, 2006... John Geldermann, founder of Geldermann Inc., passed away in early January. Geldermann, 80, was long known in the futures industry as an innovator. Not only did he and his brother Tom start a clearing business in the 1950s on the Chicago Board...

One chamber down ... CFTC half way home.(Trendlines)
February 1, 2006... Before its Christmas break, the House of Representatives passed legislation reauthorizing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which also granted the Chicago exchange community many of the items on its wish list. But one item in the...

Newyex and Europa Boerse? New DB boss joins merger mania.(Trendlines)
February 1, 2006... Reto Francioni has certainly shaken up the exchange landscape. Since his tenure as head of Deutsche Boerse began in September, not only has Eurex boss Rudi Ferscha departed, but the exchange has begun talks to forge joint ventures with...

Complex in the city: when is a deal a deal?(Trendlines)
February 1, 2006... Last we heard, the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) had signed a definitive agreement with venture capital firm General Atlantic LLC (GA) to sell 10% of the exchange for $135 million. A streamlined board of directors and an IPO were to...

Refco round up: musical CEOs.(Trendlines)
February 1, 2006... * Refco Inc. named Harrison J. Goodin CEO, replacing interim chief Robert Dangremond. Goodin was senior managing director of Goodin Associates LLC and the fourth CEO named since the implosion. Unsecured Refco creditors filed a lawsuit in...

Shell game: oil giant charged with violating CEA.(Trendlines)
February 1, 2006... The CFTC on Jan. 4 filed and settled charges against Shell Trading US Company (Stusco), Shell International Trading and Shipping Co. (Stasco) and Nigel Catteral, former chief trader for Stusco, for engaging in prearranged trades on Nymex, a...

Chartview: a run on seat prices.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... As 2005 came to a close the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) established a progression of record seat sales, the top being $875,000. That is not bad considering that the first seat sold in 2005 went for $299,000. The record sales come...

Jane futures? CBOT moves in on Asia.(Trendlines)
February 1, 2006... Most memorandums of understanding (MOU) are vague and do not result in near-term action, but the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) made a bold move a few short months after their August MOU, announcing they will...

Deutsche CDO trader buries losses.(International News)
February 1, 2006... While auditing its trading accounts for year-end bonuses in December, Deutsche Bank's London office uncovered a little discrepancy--if you consider [pounds sterling]30 million little. In January, the bank told the Financial Services Authority...

Steak well done.(International News)(Japan has opened its door to some U.S. and Canadian beef)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Japan has opened its door to some U.S. and Canadian beef. The ban relating to North American cases of mad cow disease has been in effect since 2003. Japan lifted the ban on beef from cows younger than 21 months, if the heads and spinal cords...

NFA keeps cleaning up the industry.(National Futures Association)
February 1, 2006... The National Futures Association (NFA) continues to crack down on "bad practice" offenders by permanently barring Wallstreet Financial Trading Inc. (Wallstreet), a former' futures introducing broker (IB) in West Palm Beach, Fla., from...

Being prepared.(International News)
February 1, 2006... CBOE has completed implementation of systems and testing of an off-site back-up facility which is now operational. The back-up facility will not include a trading floor, operating completely electronically.

Man agrees to release info.(Managed Money Review)
February 1, 2006... After a testy exchange between lawyers for Man Financial and U.S. District Court Judge Michael Baylson at a Dec. 16 hearing, Lee A. Rosengard, attorney for receiver C. Clark Hodgson, withdrew the receivers contempt motion against Man after Man...

Webber to head Patsystems.(Trading Places)
February 1, 2006... David Webber replaces Kevin Ashby as CEO of Patsystems PLC as of Jan. 03, 2006. Previously, Webber was managing director of software company AttentiV, where he worked for 10 years. "Pats has built itself up into a big platform made up of blue...

Notes stuck in range.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Holly S. Liss, VP of Citigroup Global Markets Inc., expects to see the March 10-year note contract just below 108-00. "On the outside, you do have a 62% retracement of the entire range from September to November that comes in at 110-13, and I...

Sideways corn.(Hot Commodities)
February 1, 2006... Analysts are bearish on corn despite an impressive December rally, particularly after the March contract failed to take out October's highs. Daniel W. Basse, president of AgResource Company, attributes the rally to short covering by index funds...

Minis looking large.(Hot Commodities)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The early 2006 equity rally has traders bullish even with bearish technicals. Independent trader Stephen Hallman says the E-mini S & P 500's breakout of an upward sloping wedge pattern is usually a sign of an imminent sell-off, but Hallman is...

How to benefit from an inverted yield curve.(Market Strategy)
February 1, 2006... The end of the year 2005 rally was affected after the two-year Treasury note yielded more than the 10-year Treasury note for the first time in five years. Some investors interpret an inverted curve as an indication that the economy will soon...

Energy markets could find home in the range: will crude oil prices continue to cool off this year or is the recent pullback a brief correction in another long-term bull move? While opinions differ on predictions for the first half of the year, the consensus is price and volatility in crude oil, and other energies will not live up to what we witnessed in 2005.(MARKETS)
February 1, 2006... While a few experts predict we will revisit $70 per barrel crude oil in 2006, many analysts expect energy prices to stabilize during the first half of the year. Predictions of crude oil prices in the mid to high $50s are the norm as analysts...

Tech talk: crude projections.(MARKETS)
February 1, 2006... The first chart is a projection of crude oil made on Dec. 23, 2004, projected out one year. It is not a projection of price but price momentum. The price is smoothed so we are able to extract a more constant cyclical behavior and then...

The gift of the break-even trade.(Forex Trader)
February 1, 2006... Understanding your experience in forex trading depends on what measures are used. A straightforward approach often applied is quantifying our results in terms of profit vs. losses. Being profitable is where all of us desire to be. Yet, this...

Versatility of buy-write strategies: here are a couple ways to use buy-write options strategies to mimic the performance of traditional bond and stock investments--as well as an approach that uses a relatively new derivative instrument.(EQUITY TRADING TECHNIQUES)
February 1, 2006... Last month we outlined the theory behind the buy-write trading strategy. Buy-write, also called covered call writing, programs have experienced stratospheric growth recently and now include more than $18 billion in assets. Although the growth...

Understanding the arb trade: floor traders constantly try to profit from price anomalies between open outcry and electronic contracts through arbitrage. Part of their strategy is the not-so-subtle ways they try to influence either market. This plays a major role in the price flow of both markets.
February 1, 2006... Arbitrage is one of the most influential but commonly misunderstood factors that drive price activity in modern futures markets. Understanding how arb trades work can give you an edge regardless of your trading approach. A successful arb,...

Today's top 10 trading systems: a good trading system works well throughout the years, not just weeks or months. And it's about more than raw returns, you also need a risk/reward profile that lets you stick with the program through the bad times, so you're still around for the good ones. Here are 10 programs that fit the bill.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)(Cover Story)
February 1, 2006... Finding a good trading system takes the one resource that nobody can buy: time. That's not the time it takes to analyze it, but the time it takes for the system to play out in the markets, day by day, month by month, decade by decade. Time is...

Has technical analysis kept up with the (Dow) Jones'? Markets have taken advantage of technology during the last 30 years, but where are the advances in analyzing price movement?
February 1, 2006... Technology has revolutionized the way business is done around the world, including many aspects of trading during the last 30 years, but has it really produced any innovations in technical analysis for today's global, 24-hour electronic...

Intermarket analysis: what works today; The key to intermarket analysis is devising a reliable strategy for determining when it won't work. Here, we look closely at that process for an intermarket system based on T-bonds and the S & P 500.
February 1, 2006... After reviewing the basics of intermarket analysis in the December 2005 issue, we looked at three trading systems developed by Ruggiero during the 1990s and discussed why they still work. We also considered a big weakness of intermarket...

NinjaTrader LLC.(Brokerage software)(Product/Service Evaluation)
February 1, 2006... NinjaTrader LLC 1236 Clarkson Street Denver, CO 80218 sales@ninjatrader.com support@ninjatrader.com www.ninjatrader.com OVERALL RATING: Excellent LEVEL: Novice to professional. PRICE: NinjaTrader standard...

Step-by-step into the ag markets: here's a look at the different fundamental, technical and seasonal factors when trading agricultural commodities. How should a trader change his focus inside and outside the growing season?(FUTURES 101)
February 1, 2006... Agricultural commodities are changing and despite the fact that they trade in predominantly open-outcry pits, the changes are real. As historically domestic products become exports, suppliers such as Argentina and Brazil gain prominence and...

Growing options volume electronically.(Online Trading)
February 1, 2006... Technology has launched trading up from the pits and into the screen with point-and-click execution producing record volume growth year after year. While futures trading has dominated those records, growth in options both on equities and...

The great divide(s): these days, top rated CTAs are as likely to come from Europe as from the United States. A disproportionate number of Europeans are making their names in discretionary currency trading, while others are carving out niches unique to their part of the world--but a new wave of algorithmic traders also are hitting the markets.(MANAGED MONEY)
February 1, 2006... Paolo di Montorio-Veronese runs a company called PdMV Capital. The letters come from his aristocratic name, and the fund of funds he just launched, the PhD Fund, boasts an impressive 16.6% proforma return, with volatility of just 5.1% and a...

Dow Jones Indexes.(INDEX FUNDS)
February 1, 2006... Dow Jones Indexes (DJI) has launched the Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index, which tracks the top 100 yielding stocks in Europe, Asia and Canada. Components were selected from the Dow Jones World Developed-Ex. U.S. Index, representing 95% of...

Dynamic Trend Inc.(Financial services)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Dynamic Trend Inc.'s Dynamic Trend Profile, a technical analysis program, will be powered by eSignal's real-time data. The combination brings eSignal's technical charts and indicators together with Dynamic Trend Profile's specialized market...

Trading Technologies.(SOFTWARE)
February 1, 2006... Trading Technologies (TT) has released X_Trader 7 trading software. The enhancement to its platform includes new exchange connections and more powerful tools. X_Trader 7 is built on a new API and incorporates a new messaging layer. X_Trader 7...

Numerator.(SOFTWARE)(nuFed)(Numerator has launched its flagship service)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Numerator has launched its flagship service, nuFed, which delivers Federal Reserve data on America's largest 150 banks, reflecting more than $1.2 trillion of market cap, or more than 9% of the entire U.S. market. Users can generate and download...

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange.(FUTURES)
February 1, 2006... The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) plans to launch a futures contract based on the MSCI EAFE Index on March 20, which will trade exclusively on Globex. The contract is designed to help investors participate in international equity markets....

The Chicago Board of Trade.(FUTURES)
February 1, 2006... The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) has launched two new market maker programs designed to support options trading on Two-year U.S. Treasury note futures. Participants in the electronic market marker program will provide continuous two-sided...

Fortis.(reorganization)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Fortis has acquired O'Connor & Company and will combine its Chicago clearing operations with O'Connor, more than tripling its size. The combined organization will operate as O'Connor until the integration is completed, when it will assume the...

2005 public funds returns (through December).(Funds Review)(Illustration)
February 1, 2006... Unit Starting value Change Trading Date unit through for Name of fund advisor(s) ...

Tops & bottoms of 2005: the move to for-profit status accelerated in earnest in 2005 as three exchanges and one futures firm went public and others were targets for capital raising firms eager to cash in. While equity volatility continued to wane, futures and options exchanges set records. Here is an offbeat look at some of the events of last year.(TRADE TRENDS)
February 1, 2006... Tops IPO-MANIA The successful IPOs of 2005 ran the gamut in terms of market models: The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the oldest futures exchange in the United States, finally took the plunge after years of fighting legal battles...

Contract dates.(Dateline)(Calendar)
February 1, 2006... 1 LTD: BM & F Alcohol OF, iBrX 50 F, Euronext-Liffe Mar White sugar OF. [TABLE OMITTED] 2 FND: BM & F Alcohol F, Sugar F, LTD: CME Jan Mid-sized milk OF, Jan Milk F,OF, Jan Weather OF, Safex Bonds F. 3 LTD: CME Jan Frozen Pork...

Events coming up.(Calendar)
February 1, 2006... Call the numbers listed for more information. For other seminars, see the classifieds on pages 80-85. Managed Funds Association's Network 2006. FEB. 5-7. The Ritz-Carlton. Key Biscayne, Fla. www.mfainfo.org. (202) 367-1140. ...

Bernie Carey--trading is in the blood.(Trader Profile)
February 1, 2006... Bernie Carey measures his success as a trader by the 40 years he traded grain futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). "I lived to tell about it," he says. The 89-year-old Carey, who resides in Chesterton, Ind., began trading when he...