Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) articles from July 2003

Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) archives from July 2003

Mixed signals? (Editor's Note).
July 1, 2003... A few weeks ago when I heard on the radio that mortgage rates had hit 45-year lows, I called my mortgage broker, thinking, "well, I refinanced a couple years ago but it doesn't hurt to check," and sure enough, I locked into a rate that was...

Sound off!
July 1, 2003... INDUSTRY, REBORN As a farmer board member of the [Chicago Mercantile Exchange], floor trader, current electronic trader and the owner of a trading arcade and brokerage firm (Aspire Trading Company LLC), I want to thank you for [Ann Berg's]...

Clearing realignment almost complete. (Germany to the Rescue).
July 1, 2003... Just when the future looked darkest for the Board of Trade Clearing Corp. (BOTCC), an unlikely but not unexpected suitor is expected to partially fill the void created by the Chicago Board of Trade's (CBOT) decision to end its 78-year handshake...

Futures traders dodge tax bullet. (Fudging the Fine Print).
July 1, 2003... The futures industry received a potentially expensive scare in May as last minute changes -- part of a manager's amendment to the Bush administration's tax cut bill -- pulled the favorable 60/40 tax treatment for futures contracts. The section...

P-Tech civil suit back. (Albatross Flies Again).
July 1, 2003... The saga involving the manipulation of the New York Futures Exchange's (Nyfe) now de-listed Pacific Stock Exchange Technology Index options, which resulted in the default of longtime futures commission merchant Klein & Co., continues as a...

UK hints at adopting euro, EU broadcasts rate cuts. (Structural Resolution?).
July 1, 2003... Unlike North America, Europe's problems continue to be more structural than cyclical -- with low labor mobility and high taxes preventing domestic demand from balancing the loss of U.S. buying power that comes with the sliding dollar. ...

New option system online, order flow payments back. (Change in The Air).
July 1, 2003... In May the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Hybrid Trading System but made no commitment on ending payment for order flow, leading CBOE to return begrudgingly to the much-maligned...

Nymex/Comex merge clearing. (International News: Americas).
July 1, 2003... Not to be left out of the recent spirit of clearing efficiency (see Trendlines, page 14), the New York Mercantile Exchange announced that it is merging the clearing operations of its two divisions. The merger combines the two guarantee...

Robbins out of hot seat. (International News: Americas).
July 1, 2003... The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accepted an offer of settlement from Chicago-based Robbins Futures Inc., a registered FCM, and its president, Joel Robbins, for charges brought against the respondents in an earlier...

Buying American. (International News: Americas).
July 1, 2003... After a year of talks, $110 million was the number Chicago private equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner agreed to pay the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) for the American Stock Exchange (Amex). Even though Amex was not a huge...

Coming soon: scandinext? (International News: Europe).
July 1, 2003... When Swedish exchange and technology provider OM Group announced in late May that it was merging with Finland's HEX, one person was conspicuous by his absence: OM Chief Executive Per Larsson. The charismatic Swede stood quietly in the...

From two to won. (International News: Pacific Rim).
July 1, 2003... The South Korean Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) will merge South Korea's three exchanges into one corporation, according to a release. The merger, which could be complete by as soon as 2004, will combine the Korean Stock Exchange (KSE),...

SSF: yesterday's market? (International News: Pacific Rim).
July 1, 2003... The Hong Futures Exchange (HKEx) suspended the trading of its International Stock Futures and Options (ISFO), "There was no open interest in the ISFO and exchange participants expressed low interest to the products," a spokesperson says....

Trader's guide to technical indicators. (eSignal).
July 1, 2003... Many traders try to trade with the trend, but at some point trends end, providing opportunities to capture profits from a market turn. The trick, of course, is to identify the end of a trend so you can get into position for the new trend. ...

Future Dynamics expands with Bohannon. (Trading Places).
July 1, 2003... Mark Bohannon. who was named senior vice president of Future Dynamics Inc., will have plenty to do. He will serve as a high-level point-of-contact for clients, integrate client and market demands with product development, and assist with...

Forum turns table on hedge fund critics. (Managed Money Review).
July 1, 2003... Much of the coverage of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) year-long fact finding investigation into hedge funds created fear that the SEC's hedge fund roundtable held in May would be a mandate for greater regulation. But what...

Beans: don't feed the bears? (Hot Commodities).
July 1, 2003... For those who thought last year's rally across the grain and soybean complex was the beginning of an era of higher prices after sustained weakness, Dan Basse, president of Ag Resource Company, has some bad news. "We are in a position where...

Gold is still a bull. (Hot Commodities).
July 1, 2003... Despite some serious swings, gold has continued to make higher highs and higher lows since abandoning its 20-year bear market and with uncertainty the rule, it should continue to do so. "We have had a wave of uncertainties in the market and...

Crude is moving, but where? (Hot Commodities).
July 1, 2003... According to one analyst who predicted a spike in crude oil prices one year ago based on technical factors and a U.S. war with Iraq, a repeat performance is possible in the commodity. "Oil price pressure II will be coming to a service...

Cotton forecasts converge in 2003. (Market Strategy).
July 1, 2003... All bull markets start at the bottom of bear markets and all bear markets start at the top of bull markets. The mathematics and time cycles of W. D. Gann can help you with this. Cotton provides an excellent example. Time cycles bottoming 15...

Everything on 'go' for economic recovery. (Cover Story Markets).
July 1, 2003... With stimulation coming from virtually every possible source, can U.S. economic recovery be far off? Here's a mid-year assessment of what the 'Bush push' suggests for interest rates, the dollar and stocks. The quick resolution the war on...

New concepts in forex trend analysis. (Forex Trader).
July 1, 2003... The cliche the trend is your friend, begs the question: What, exactly, is a trend? Conventional wisdom is that a succession of higher highs with higher lows constitutes an uptrend. Conversely, a succession of lower highs and lower lows...

The bear lurks amid bullish hopes. (Equity Trading Techniques).
July 1, 2003... Newsletter writer opinions and the mutual funds cash position have provided accurate gauges of stock market sentiment in the past. Here's why they suggest a bull market may not be imminent. The theory of contrary opinion states that markets...

Predicting the E-mini--a new approach. (Trading Techniques).
July 1, 2003... Powerful new software is making advances in areas as different as weather forecasting to chess. Can the same benefits be had for traders? We look at one application of new model building technologies in trading the E-mini S&P 500. A...

It's different enough this time. (Trading Techniques).
July 1, 2003... Some of the more popular speculative instruments are based on the Nasdaq 100. Can the Nasdaq Composite also serve as a successful underlying, or will its derivatives be added to the long list of failed contracts? Here are some trading...

The many sides of an options trade. (Trading Techniques).
July 1, 2003... Most traders look only at price -- up or down. But options traders also have to evaluate volatility, time, call or put and strike price. Here's how to look at those four dimensions of options for low-risk, high-reward calendar spreads. ...

Getting technical with spreads. (Trading Techniques).
July 1, 2003... The 'art' of spread trading may seem too complex to many individual traders but applying technical and seasonal analysis to spreads can help you identify profitable opportunities. If there is truth in the statement that "trading is more an...

Mark Rosenberg: it's a bull market for alternatives. (Futures Interview).
July 1, 2003... Mark Rosenberg has been earning his investors money trading alternative investment strategies for two decades. Now he says these markets and the managers who trade them are about to go mainstream, much like stocks did in the late 19th century...

Software review.
July 1, 2003... Darrell Jobman TradeStation 7 TradeStation Group Inc. 8050 SW 10th St., Suite 2000 Plantation, Fla. 33324 www.tradestation.com sales@tradestation.com (954) 652-7900 OVERALL RATING: **** LEVEL: Serious...

Trusting the average. (Futures 101).
July 1, 2003... There are few technical indicators that a trader will trust to determine a trend over a moving average. But there are many moving averages and you need to understand the differences before using any of them. Not at everyone trades the...

Education will be the key. (Managed Money).
July 1, 2003... Opinions of trading futures are split between those on the inside who use them and those on the outside who fear them. For security futures to deliver on their highly touted potential as revolutionary products, prospective users must understand...

Beer, brats and bunds. (Trade Trends).
July 1, 2003... Over the next three years, the European Union will implement a series of reforms making it easier to regulate and market retail derivative products cross-border, but only a handful of retail-oriented derivatives service providers seem...

Dateline.
July 1, 2003... July 30 Grain stocks. Japan Employment, Unemployment 1 Crop summary 3 Employment, Unemployment 4 Holiday: U.S. 7 COT report. U.K. Production index 8 Crop summary. Germany Production index, Employment, Unemployment ...

Chenier: systematizing what works. (Trader Profile).
July 1, 2003... Jean-Jacques Chenier uses most of the same indicators as a systematic trend following manager that he did as a discretionary manager but has found that systematizing the approach added much needed discipline, allowing him to exploit the...