Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) articles from June 2008

Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) archives from June 2008

CFTC gets an earful.(HEDGING ITS BETS)
June 1, 2008... The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) got an earful from hedgers during an April forum in Washington D.C. to collect information on price discovery and record Spikes in volatility in the agriculture markets. Producers didn't hold...

India, UN send mixed signals.(WORLD VIEW)
June 1, 2008... As surging food prices spark riots in parts of the developing world, mixed signals are emerging from both the United Nations and the Indian government on the role of markets in the pricing and distribution of food. India, for example, is...

Nymex members want more, more, more.(WITH A REBEL YELL ...)
June 1, 2008... It would take just 204 New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) members voting 'no' to kill the proposed merger with the CME Group, and several recent developments indicate that is increasingly likely. On April 25, a Nymex membership sold for...

Tone grant convicted.(NO ATONEMENT)
June 1, 2008... In mid April, former Refco owner Tone N. Grant was convicted of all five charges related to the $2.4 billion Refco fraud. He faces 85 years in prison. Grant and former CEO Phillip R. Bennett staged round trip transactions to hide hundreds of...

Libor lurch.(International News)
June 1, 2008... The validity of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), to which hundreds of trillions of dollars in loans are pegged around the world, is being investigated by the British Bankers' Association after several banks complained about the way...

LME going american.(International News)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... The London Metal Exchange, which recently launched European and Asian steel futures contracts, says it's now aiming to launch a contract for the Americas by year-end, with steel warehouses across the southern United States. The location is key,...

TSE picks liffe connect.(International News)
June 1, 2008... Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) is enhancing its options trading capabilities with the start of a new options trading system using NYSE Euronext's Liffe Connect technology. The system, Tdex+, will launch in early 2009. "NYSE Euronext's technical and...

Sens.stir up energy regs.(OIL SLICK)
June 1, 2008... Congress announced an agreement on a final Farm Bill on May 8 that includes an act to reauthorize the CFTC, and one measure in the bill is turning up the heat on energy market regulation and the CFTC. In what some in the futures industry call a...

MF'S wild ride.(DIZZING)
June 1, 2008... It has been a rollercoaster couple of months for futures commission merchant MF Global and this has been perfectly illustrated in their segregated funds as reported to the CFTC. MF saw their total seg funds explode by 25% to more than $13...

COO of ICE futures Canada.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2008... Brad Vannan was appointed president and COO of ICE Futures Canada. Most recently he was vice president at Agricore United.

International swaps and derivatives association.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2008... Eraj Shirvani, a managing director at Credit Suisse, was named chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA).

Latin America for CME group.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2008... Ricardo Sant' Anna is now director, business development, Latin America for CME Group. Previously he was an institutional broker at Merrill Lynch.

CEO of Vestopia Inc.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2008... Steve Markowitz was named chairman and CEO of Vestopia Inc. Previously he was chairman and CEO of MyPoints.com.

BATS trading Europe.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2008... Mark Hemsley was named chief executive and Paul O'Donnell was named chief operating officer of BATS Trading Europe. Hemsley was previously CIO at Liffe, and O'Donnell was an executive director at Morgan Stanley.

Chief administrative officer at citigroup.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2008... Mark Rufeh was appointed chief administrative officer at Citigroup. Previously he was chief administrative officer for the investment banking group at Credit Suisse.

Swapstream North America.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2008... Ron Peterson was named director of Swapstream North America. Previously he was a director for Deutsche Bank.

JP Morgan Chase.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2008... Derek Kaufman was appointed senior managing director and head of the U.S. fixed income business at Citadel. Previously he was global head of fixed income at JP Morgan Chase.

Rand financial services.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2008... Joni Malpede was named senior vice president and COO at Rand Financial Services. Previously she served at SunGard Futures Systems.

Director of education at optionsHouse.(Trading Places)
June 1, 2008... Dan Passarelli is now director of education at OptionsHouse. He previously traded equity options at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Send news of personnel moves to: Futures, 222 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 620 Chicago, III....

Lake shore exec takes a powder.(Managed Money Review)
June 1, 2008... On April 24 the U.S. district court in Chicago entered a default judgment against Philip J. Baker and the companies he controlled, including Lake Shore Group of Companies Inc., 12 Lake Shore commodity pools and Hanford Investments Ltd. Baker...

No yen for risk.(Hot Commodities)
June 1, 2008... The Japanese yen is wilting again, primarily due to U.S. dollar strength, says Jason Yu, chief currency strategist for ODL Securities. He says former Fed chief Alan Greenspan's recent comments that the credit crunch is easing, even while the...

Sizzling rice.(Hot Commodities)
June 1, 2008... Just about the time short sellers were bailing out of the rice market, a cyclone devastated Myanmar creating a huge humanitarian crisis, having struck the heart of that county's rice producing region, destroying most of the paddy and last...

Slippery climb.(Hot Commodities)
June 1, 2008... Remember the good old days when crude oil was $100 per barrel? Since then, crude has traded past $126, and those rabble rousers at Goldman Sachs are predicting $ 150 to $200 oil in six to 12 months. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] "It doesn't make...

Soybean corrections offer opportunity.(Market Strategy)
June 1, 2008... Volatility is the buzzword for sellers of options on any market. Price volatility can create opportunities on both sides of the market and the investor who knows the underlying fundamentals will have the advantage in capitalizing on such...

Don't go against the grains.(MARKETS)(Cover story)
June 1, 2008... Drought, food riots and rationing and the influx of long-only funds have set fire to the once sleepy grain markets. Here's a fresh look at the grains and the fundamental factors that are causing grains to double and triple in value. As we...

The geometry of opportunity in forex.(Forex Trader)
June 1, 2008... Now that the Federal Reserve has lowered the Fed Funds rate to 2% currency pairs will be adjusting to a new set of expectations. In forex, money always seeks to gain an edge by resng in currencies that pay a differential in rates. It is a...

Decaffeinating portfolios via volatility; It may seem counter-intuitive, but volatility can actually be a stabilizing force for your portfolio. Volatility-based strategies are typically non-correlated to traditional techniques and often result in smoother equity growth if properly employed. Here, we exploit volatility trends in Starbucks.(EQUITY TRADING TECHNIQUES)
June 1, 2008... Most traders consider sophisticated option strategies complex financial instruments, designed for pros only. As such, these techniques are often overlooked as a way to tap changes in volatility as a source of returns. However,...

I A Black-Scholes peek at futures prices; The Black-Scholes option pricing model gave the world of finance a way to calculate the fair price of an option contract. However, once you realize the full potential of the model and others like if, you then have a powerful tool for analyzing many other aspects of market dynamics.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
June 1, 2008... For futures contracts, option-pricing models provide a significant source of information on the market consensus regarding price movements until expiry. Given the quantity of price information available through option price data--and the...

Reaping profits with regression analysis: regression channels and intermarket analysis are excellent tools for providing situational awareness of the markets. Here's a demonstration of how effective they can be in the grain markets.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
June 1, 2008... If you trade corn, you know the top chart shown in "Light on their feet" (right) quite well. The extent to which prices have moved during this six-month period has been historic in its scope. However, the lines on the chart might not be that...

I swinging in E-mini Nasdaq futures: if you're looking for frequent trade opportunities, one of the most active approaches is seeking out short-term (five-to 10-minute) price swings in the E-mini Nasdaq. Here, we quantify the scope of these moves and discuss how a nimble trader can use them to profit.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
June 1, 2008... If you have the ability and necessary technology to pull the trigger quickly, some of the most profitable trading opportunities can be found in so-called swing trades. These trades capture intermediate moves within the prevailing trend for...

Software review.
June 1, 2008... LaPorte software is designed to help you select investment managers, including CTAs and hedge fund managers, by allowing you to review fund managers' track records. The software allows you to subset and rank investment managers by a variety of...

I Ins and outs of commodity options: the record volatility in today's agricultural markets is threatening to take the small retail trader out of the game. fortunately, there's a way to maintain your opportunity while capping your risk through the use of commodity options.(FUTURES 101)
June 1, 2008... Due to strong demand, rising fuel and input costs and restrictions on world exports, agriculture markets have experienced record volatility in recent months. One way to profit from price volatility while limiting your risk is through the use of...

European clearing: The tangled web.(TRADE TRENDS)
June 1, 2008... The European Union's move towards "horizontal" clearing and settlement of equities is now officially in reverse, with Euronext.Liffe and ICE drifting towards vertical silos. Here's a look at the latest changes sweeping the European clearing...

Putting the Russell on ICE.(Online Trading)
June 1, 2008... The Russell is in for a major shake-up in September when Russell 2000 (full and E-mini) contracts traded at CME Group go off the board and the only place to trade Russell 2000 futures will be the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). It will be the...

ICE Futures Europe.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2008... Intercontinental Exchange and globalCOAL will launch two new coal futures contracts at ICE Futures Europe. www.theice.com

The New York Mercantile Exchange.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2008... The New York Mercantile Exchange introduced a certified emission reduction options contract. The contract will be priced in euros with a minimum price fluctuation of euro 0.01 per metric ton. www.nymex.com

Bursa Malaysia.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2008... Bursa Malaysia introduced direct market access for the denevatives market in order to enhance market accessibility. www.klse.com.my/website/bm [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Minneapolis Grain Exchange.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2008... The Minneapolis Grain Exchange launched side-by-side hard red spring wheat options. www.mgex.com

International Securities Exchange.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2008... The International Securities Exchange (ISE) announced a new $0.0035 rebate tier for displayed market liquidity providers and lowered the midpoint match fee to $0.0015 per share for the initial pricing tier. www.ise.com

Tokyo Stock Exchange.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2008... Tokyo Stock Exchange introduced a new options trading system, Tdex+, which is based on Liffe Connect and AEMS technology and services. www.tse.or.jp

Philadelphia Stock Exchange.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2008... The Philadelphia Stock Exchange will begin to trade 20 new options. www.phlx.com

Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2008... The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME) in June will launch financially settled futures based on Brent andOman crude oil. DME currently lists physically delivered futures on Oman crude oil. www.dubaimerc.com

Eurex.(EXCHANGES)
June 1, 2008... Eurex in late June will launch derivatives on the MSCI Russia Index denominated in U.S. dollars. www.eurexchange.com

Barclays Global Investors.(ETFs)
June 1, 2008... Barclays Global Investors listed 31 new iShares funds on NYSE Euronext's French market. www.barclaysglobal.com

JPMorgan.(ETFs)
June 1, 2008... JPMorgan launched a new series of ETFs based on the sub-indexes of JPMorgan's European Monetary Union Government Bond Index on NYSE Euronext. www.nyx.com

Invesco PowerShares.(ETFs)
June 1, 2008... Invesco PowerShares introduced three new ETF portfolios on NYSE Amex: PCA - PowerShares Autonomic Balanced NFA Global Asset Portfolio, PAO - PowerShares Autonomic Balanced Growth NFA Global Asset Portfolio and PTO - PowerShares Autonomic Growth...

Russell Investments.(INDEXES)
June 1, 2008... Russell Investments launched the Russell Global Large Cap Growth Index, Russell Latin America Value Index and Russell Australia Growth Index. www.russell.com/indexes

Zealous Trading Group.(TRADING PLATFORMS)
June 1, 2008... Zealous Trading Group launched its ZATS Next Generation Trading Platform for restricted and illiquid securities. www.zealousats.com

Smart Trade Technologies.(TRADING PLATFORMS)
June 1, 2008... Smart Trade Technologies launched the LiquidityOrchestrator smart order router, and an upgraded SmartTrade Transaction Platform 5.5. The new platform includes the LiquidityConnect, Liquidity Aggregator, and LiquidityCrosser systems....

Dorman Trading.(OTHER)(Website overview)
June 1, 2008... Dorman Trading launched its new Web site. www.dormantrading.com

Nasdaq LiveQuotes Pro.(OTHER)
June 1, 2008... eSignal released Nasdaq LiveQuotes Pro, an upgrade to Nasdaq LiveQuotes. www.esignal.com

FIX Protocol Ltd.(OTHER)
June 1, 2008... FIX Protocol Ltd, FpML/ISDA, SWIFT and ISITC launched a financial messaging Investment Roadmap to map the FIX, ISO, and FpML protocols to the appropriate business processes across major asset classes. www.fixprotocol.org/investmentroadmap. ...

Timing Techniques for Commodity Futures Markets.
June 1, 2008... Colin Alexander assumes the reader is new to futures trading, so he covers the basics at the onset. This is where I got my first inkling that this book was more than just another "milk-for-profit" rehash. Even the introductory chapters taught...

Trading catalysts: How events move markets and create trading opportunities.
June 1, 2008... Robert Webb's premise is that by analyzing past events and learning how markets reacted to them, investors and traders can reap rewards when future major events occur. Webb provides a detailed look at some recent major events and their impact...

Dateline.(Calendar)
June 1, 2008... JUNE MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 2 3 4 5 6 Crop summary, Employment, Australia ...

Linn: reaping years of experience.(Trader Profile)
June 1, 2008... Gordon Linn started working in the cash grain business in Des Moines, Iowa and figured he would return there. But after coming to Chicago in the early 1970s to hedge for Lincoln Commodities, he found a new home. "I started a trading...