Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) articles from June 2007

Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) archives from June 2007

Doing and teaching.(management and evaluation of I-Trade show through internet)
June 1, 2007... In our efforts to expand into cyberspace, we recently held a "virtual" trade show, the I-Trade show. This online expo debut was April 17 to 18 and like any show had both speakers and exhibitors. But the beauty of the I-Trade show was all you...

Raised bids, mad shareholder: exchange buying mania.(Trendlines)
June 1, 2007... At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's (CME) shareholder meeting in late April, CME Chairman Emeritus Leo Melamed remarked that the United States must consider the implications of no longer being the world's top capital markets center, and that...

CME raises bid.(Trendlines)
June 1, 2007... In other merger news, after much ado about not increasing its bid for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the CME did exactly that in mid May, upping its bid by 16%. If the terms are accepted, CBOT shareholders would own 34.6% of the outstanding...

Middle East crude: make it sweet-sour.(Trendlines)
June 1, 2007... Hard to believe it's taken this long, but by June 1 there will finally be a futures contract based on the sour grade of crude oil that abounds in the Middle East. In fact, there will be two: ICE announced it would launch a cash-settled...

Easy to be green? Carbon trading soars.(Climate Exchange losses)
June 1, 2007... London-based holding company Climate Exchange, which owns both the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and the European Climate Exchange (ECX), lost 10 times its revenue in 2006 but things are looking up in 2007. The Climate Exchange posted a loss...

Stock futures alive! Eurex SSFs on the march.(Trendlines)
June 1, 2007... Volume on Eurex's single stock futures (SSFs) long ago passed Spain's MEFF exchange and this year is running ahead of Euronext.Liffe--despite Euronext.Liffe launching its SSFs in 2001, while Eurex didn't get going until fall 2005. Eurex...

Chartview: exchange profitability.(Trendlines)
June 1, 2007... Record volumes and revenue announcements are now so frequent and numerous as to be non-events, especially now that, as public companies, profitability is the new watch word. All of the major U.S.-based futures exchanges posted impressive gains...

Shareholder revolt: eSpeed bumps ahead.(Trendlines)
June 1, 2007... When Tullettt Prebon Plc's $12 per share bid for eSpeed was rejected in mid April, a bilious geyser erupted, with shareholders demanding to replace board members, retain an independent auditor to review the joint services agreement and convert...

Financial news is hot.(International News)
June 1, 2007... Canadian data-broker Thomson Corp. in May made an offer to buy Reuters, the 156-year old London-based news service. The same week News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch approached Dow Jones, the parent of Wall Street Journal,...

IB goes public.(International News)
June 1, 2007... Interactive Brokers Group Inc. increased the size of its IPO by 16% and raised the price to $30.01 per share, from the expected range of $27 to $30, on the eve of its IPO. On the first day of trading, the stock closed up more than 4% but since...

No sanctions for locusts.(International News)
June 1, 2007... Two years ago, in the heat of national elections, German politician Franz Muentefering derided hedge funds as 'locusts' and called for their destruction. After the election, the German government quietly declared the vehicles safe, and now...

OMX looks to Balkans.(International News)
June 1, 2007... Swedish-Finnish exchange operator OMX is continuing its growth in Eastern Europe, with a letter of intent to acquire the Armenian Stock Exchange and the Central Depository of Armenia.

Trading fish.(International News)
June 1, 2007... The Fish Pool exchange in Norway will offer cleared futures contracts for fresh salmon. The salmon industry is one of the most industrialized seafood sectors.

Banks form new exchange.(International News)
June 1, 2007... Shares in TSX Group Inc., parent of the TSX and the TSX Venture Exchange, took a 12% hit in May when the six largest banks in Canada along with Canaccord Capital Corp. announced plans to set up their own electronic trading operation to compete...

Martello reels in Karpen.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2007... Peter F. Karpen has been named director of business development at Martello Investment Management LP. Previously he was a director of CS First Boston, a managing director at John W. Henry & Co. and chief investment officer of Diversified...

Singapore Commodity Exchange.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2007... Jeffrey Tan is now president of the Singapore Commodity Exchange (Sicom). Most recently he was vice president at the Singapore Exchange.

ICAP plc.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2007... Herve Geny has been appointed global head of risk at ICAP plc. Previously he was head of the global risk management specialists group at Moody's Investor Services in New York.

SunGard.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2007... Tim Demarest has joined SunGard as chief product officer of BRASS, the equities trading suite. Previously he was CEO of Perseid Technologies LLC.

Deutsche Borse AG.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2007... Thomas Eichelmann has been appointed chief financial officer of Deutsche Borse AG. Previously he was a partner and member of the executive board at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. Prior, he was a senior manager for Bain & Company in Munich,...

OptionsHouse.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2007... Peter Lawler is now head of institutional trading at OptionsHouse. Previously he was co-CEO of First Options.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2007... Reuben Jeffery III, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has been nominated to be the Under Secretary of State (Economic, Energy and Agricultural affairs).

Market neutral CTA.(Managed Money Review)
June 1, 2007... Sclar Funds Management LLC is a bit of misnomer. The new commodity trading advisor (CTA)/registered investment advisory does not offer any funds, it offers managed accounts on a market neutral long/short strategy similar to a pairs trading...

Buy it for a dollar.(Hot Commodities)(United States Dollar Index)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The U.S. economy is in an abnormal position. "We have had four quarters of sub-3% growth, with an average of 2.1%, if you include the first quarter of 2007," observes Joseph Trevisani, chief market analyst for FX Solutions LLC. "Anytime there...

Sugar crash.(Hot Commodities)
June 1, 2007... Just over a year ago, sugar was trading near 19cents per pound, a 25-year high. "The high prices encouraged expanded output and the weather improved tremendously in several of the key areas where their production previously had been hurt," says...

May-laise setting in?(Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... In early May the Dow Jones reached an all-time high of 13,362.87 after posting gains in 24 of the previous 27 trading days. The last time the Dow was this hot was in 1927. "It's going to continue to hit all-time records," says Robert...

Fed foot on brake or pedal?(influence and forecasts and trends of interest rates and analysis of economic conditions)
June 1, 2007... Although the economy has slowed and downside risks have risen, those clamoring for an easing of monetary policy may still have to wait. In fact, there is no guarantee the Federal Reserve's next move won't be to raise interest rates. The...

Playing the numbers game: the bull run in grain futures so far has gone by the numbers. It hasn't been easy to predict the extent or timing of rallies in corn, soybean and wheat futures, but it was easy to see the corn rally coming if you knew how to play the grain markets by the numbers.(MARKETS)(Cover story)
June 1, 2007... The most important number in all the grain markets is a big one--11.635 billion. That's the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) estimate of the bushels of corn to be used in the 2006-07 marketing year (Sept. 1, 2006 to Aug. 31,...

Tech talk: where's the top?(MARKETS)
June 1, 2007... There have been 10 major bull moves in corn futures since 1977. A lot of money has been and can be made in the bull market we are currently in. Using Elliot Wave and Swing Theory technical tools, measurements as high as $5.00 to $5.50 per...

Dangerous precedent.(Market Strategy)
June 1, 2007... By the end of April of this year, there was a pleasant surprise for most market observers. The market was at new all-time highs--at least the Dow Jones Industrials, NYSE Composite and the Advance/Decline line were. For many market...

The DJIA-currency connection.(Forex Trader)
June 1, 2007... The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index's recent historic highs have brought great fanfare. We need to ask: Are there deeper intermarket implications in this milestone, particularly for forex traders? Let's lift this milestone and look what lies...

Penny priced options keep things rolling: with some options now priced in penny increments, new strategies are available to the active options trader. However, you need to know what to look for in a potential trading vehicle if you want to make it work.(EQUITY TRADING TECHNIQUES)
June 1, 2007... Stocks have been trading in penny increments for more than six years and options are following suit. This shift is now providing new opportunities for option traders. The Penny Trading Pilot program started in January 2007 with all option...

All options are not created equal: a lot has been written on stock option theory. However, often the same advice and analysis has been equally applied to options on futures. The assumption that these two instruments are the same is wrong and can lead to losses.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
June 1, 2007... All options share certain attributes. The characteristics and most mechanics of options are universal. For example, both options on stocks and options on futures are derivatives and they both have strike prices, expiration dates and their...

Advanced option trade management: in the final part of our series on option trade management, we will cover additional methods for hedging position risk, including using the underlying contract and we will discuss simple techniques to measure volatility.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
June 1, 2007... In the previous two parts of this series on managing position risk in options, we have presented some fairly simple, but effective, techniques for hedging. These included simply exiting the position, buying protection using a spread trade and...

Eurodollar bookends: Eurodollar futures prices are listed on the CME to the tune of 40 quarterly contracts. Their close relationship with U.S. Treasuries makes it possible to determine two dozen or more futures prices, and corresponding rates, using current Treasury yields.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
June 1, 2007... Yields on Eurodollar futures are continuously adjusted to form curves that are approximately parallel to the U.S. Treasury yield curve. The space between the two curves is attributed to a credit spread dictated by the higher risk perceived by...

Spreading grains into the 21st century: spread markets are an old idea in trading, but new applications and new players have changed some underlying assumptions of spreading. This is particularly true in the grain markets, which offer unique avenues for profit to traders willing to take the time to understand their idiosyncracies.(TECHNOLOGY & TRADING)
June 1, 2007... During the last 20 years, many traders, from the smallest retail accounts to the largest hedge funds, have focused their trading interests on the development and execution of mechanical trading systems vs. wholly discretionary trading. This...

It's all Greek to me: if you have ever been confused about how options are priced, you need a quick primer in the "The Greeks." Here is an explanation of the Greek terms used in options pricing models and a discussion of how retail and commercial traders use them to make profitable trading decisions.(FUTURES 101)
June 1, 2007... To make money consistently by trading options, it's important to understand how options prices move and what moves them, because as many beginning traders will attest, it can be very frustrating to watch a stock or futures contract take off...

PhotonTrader Version 6.02 Futurepath Trading.(Software Review)(Product/service evaluation)
June 1, 2007... PhotonTrader Version 6.02 Futurepath Trading 209 West Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60606 Tel: (312) 987 2060 E-mail: dpavlatos@fptrading.net OVERALL RATING: Good/Excellent LEVEL: Beginner PRICE: Varies SYSTEM...

System trading: tale of two traders.(Online Trading)
June 1, 2007... During our series on automated trading systems. we've compared and contrasted buying an off the shelf system with building and testing your own trading system. In this final part of the series, we'll compare the experiences of two traders who...

Hedged mutual funds: while the debate over the proper regulatory structure for hedge funds rages on, more mutual funds are utilizing hedge fund strategies, providing diversification from a long-only equity approach to investments.(MANAGED MONEY)
June 1, 2007... Despite their rapid growth, hedge funds remain a mystery to many people. They are labeled with a scarlet "R" for risk. But the greatest distinction between hedge funds and the more familiar mutual fund universe is structure and regulatory...

Asia: almost here; As China and India tweak their derivatives models before finally letting the rest of us in, Japan's new prime minister puts a fire under Tokyo exchanges, and markets from Taiwan to Singapore prepare to court the global trader.(International Special: ASIA)
June 1, 2007... "Contrary to that book by Thomas Friedman, the world is not yet flat--at least not in Asia," laughs Foo-shiung Ho, the former Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) economist and head of the Taiwan Futures Exchange (Taifex) who now runs the Futures...

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (Phlx) and Philadelphia Board of Trade (PBOT) announced in April the launch of world currency futures (WCF) on the euro and British pound.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2007... The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (Phlx) and Philadelphia Board of Trade (PBOT) announced in April the launch of world currency futures (WCF) on the euro and British pound. World currency options (WCO) on the Japanese yen, Swiss franc and...

HedgeStreet Exchange.(binary contracts launched)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The HedgeStreet Exchange has launched binary contracts on the U.S. Department of Labor's weekly seasonally adjusted Initial Jobless Claims report. The Initial Jobless Claim binaries are listed for trading each week from Monday through Thursday,...

Chicago Board of Trade.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2007... The Chicago Board of Trade has launched the CBOT mini-sized corn, mini-sized wheat and mini-sized soybean futures contracts on e-cbot, its electronic trading platform. www.cbot.com.

Swapstream.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2007... Swapstream, the multilateral electronic trading platform for interest rate swaps (IRS) and subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc., has launched sPro, a new dealer-to-client swaps trading platform. It will run alongside...

Chicago Mercantile Exchange.(EXCHANGES)(to launch Wood Pulp futures)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The Chicago Mercantile Exchange will launch Wood Pulp futures and options on futures for trade on CME Globex in the third quarter. They will be cash-settled and based on the PIX NBSKP Europe Index by FOEX Indexes Ltd. The contracts are based on...

Eurex.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2007... Eurex has introduced 17 new single stock futures, including a contract on Royal Dutch Shell and on 16 sterling denominated components of the Dow Jones STOXX 50 index. The U.K. single stock futures will be cash settled in GBP. There will be a no...

Victoria Bay Asset Management LLC and the American Stock Exchange have launched the United States Natural Gas Fund LP (UNG).(FUNDS)
June 1, 2007... Victoria Bay Asset Management LLC and the American Stock Exchange have launched the United States Natural Gas Fund LP (UNG), an exchange traded security based on natural gas delivered at Henry Hub, La. www.unitedstatesoilfund.com.

Last Atlantis Capital Management LLC.(FUNDS)
June 1, 2007... Last Atlantis Capital Management LLC has introduced LACM Consumer Receivables, Share Class L within the Last Atlantis Partners Fund. Consumer Receivables seeks to purchase past-due debt portfolios from creditors at a significant discount....

ETF Securities Ltd.(FUNDS)
June 1, 2007... ETF Securities Ltd. is set to list a range of physically backed, exchange traded commodities (ETCs), on platinum, palladium, silver and gold, and on a basket including each on the London Stock Exchange. www.etfsecurities.com.

ATS has created a LiSa.(TECHNOLOGY)
June 1, 2007... ATS has created a LiSa, a computerized system to administer the entire trading process for the livestock industry. www.aucxistrading.com.

MTPredictor.(TECHNOLOGY)
June 1, 2007... MTPredictor has released new version of its real-time software which now accepts all the datafeeds compatible with the NinjaTrader platform. Using NinjaTrader's Market Analyzer window, MTPredictor RT, can identify trade set-ups and enables them...

GAIN Capital Group LLC.(TECHNOLOGY)
June 1, 2007... GAIN Capital Group LLC has introduced ForexTrader for Windows, its new margin trading platform. It is available at no charge to GAIN clients. The newly-launched Vista ready platform is built on Microsoft's .NET framework, includes enhanced...

Tick Data.(TECHNOLOGY)(launches database for the equity options market)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Tick Data, the market data division of Nexa Technologies Inc., and the Chicago Board Options Exchange announced the release of a historical tick database for the U.S. equity options market. The new database contains all U.S. equity options data...

Beating the Financial Markets: Combining Small Biases into Powerful Money Making Strategies.
June 1, 2007... Beating the Financial Markets: Combining Small Biases into Powerful Money Making Strategies By Art Collins John Wiley & Sons Inc. 245 pages, $65 Art Collins has been a developer and trader of mechanical commodities systems...

Contract dates.(Dateline)(Calendar)
June 1, 2007... 1 LTD: BM & F Alcohol OF, iBrX 50 F, CME June Live cattle OF, Live cattle OF, Nybot Jul Cocoa OF. [TABLE OMITTED] 4 LTD: CME May Weather F. 5 LTD: CBOT Ethanol F. 7 LTD: CME Nikkei 225 F,OF, Eurex Bobl F, Bund F, Buxl F, CONF...

Events coming up.(Brief article)(Calendar)
June 1, 2007... Call the numbers listed for more information. For other seminars, see the classifieds on pages 77-81. Managed Funds Association Forum 2007. JUNE 11-13. The Fairmont Hotel, Chicago. www.mfainfo.org/events. (202) 367-1140. Capital...

Lixia Li: trading the S & P intuitively.(Trader Profile)(Standard & Poor's 500 Index)(Interview)
June 1, 2007... It took Lixia Li a while to develop her trading skills, but once she did she never looked back. "Turns out trading is my calling," Li says. But the path to the creation of her commodity trading advisor (CTA) Intuit Capital with her Strategic...

There and back again: here is the evolution of trading, systems and electronics thru the eyes of system designer and trader Robert Pardo, from an advanced excerpt of his book, The Evaluation and Optimization of Trading Strategies (2nd ed., Wiley, 2008).(GUIDE TO ELECTRONIC TRADING)(Excerpt)
June 15, 2007... Perhaps the most amazing transformation in the last 15 years has been the transformation of computing and communications. Let us consider the facts: In 1991 the fastest computer chip available was the Intel 80386 at 25 megahertz (MHz.) Today...

Alphabetical company listings.(GUIDE TO ELECTRONIC TRADING)(Cover story)
June 15, 2007... Listed here are companies that have electronic trading-related products and services featured in the list beginning on page 50. You will find each company's address, phone and fax numbers, and the categories in which it offers products. For...

Product list.(GUIDE TO ELECTRONIC TRADING)(Directory)
June 15, 2007... This list contains the names of specific products and services offered by the companies listed in this year's guide. These are primarily product names, though some entries are simply descriptions. You will find contact information for companies...

Products & services.(GUIDE TO ELECTRONIC TRADING)(Directory)
June 15, 2007... This directory lists companies that offer products or services of interest to traders, investors and firms trading electronically. Listed in alphabetical order by company, each listing includes the product name(s), e-mail and Web page address,...