Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) articles from March 2003

Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) archives from March 2003

Sucker's game? Not. (Editor's Note).
March 1, 2003... Futures trading has been called many things, but a sucker's game is the most prevalent. And statistics bear it out: When an estimated 7 out of 10 people trading futures lose money, something is amiss (although those trading the stock market in...

Sound off!
March 1, 2003... OR. TALK LESS? ["Black gold"] in the February issue of Futures is precise, concise and contains hard-hitting truth. I also would like the [U.S.] president to pay attention to another famous quote: "Talk softly and carry a big stick." This...

Clearing new front in ICE/Nymex feud. (Cleared for Takeoff).(the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange)
March 1, 2003... Enron's debacle has affected the world of energy trading in many different ways, and those ripples have placed the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) on a collision course. The fall of Enron's and other...

Chartview: mini index, major spike. (Trendlines).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The reaction of trader Jerry Jacobs probably mirrors that of most shorts in the E-mini S&P 500 on Feb. 5: "I fell off of my chair when the mini traded at 948.00," Jacobs says. The spike of more than 100 handles came just after the close of...

Trader's guide to technical indicators: looking at the dark side. (eSignal).
March 1, 2003... Many traders scan price charts constantly to see if they can spot a new trading idea. They usually have no problem finding patterns and signals that look interesting. But how do they trade? Finding out with real money in real markets can...

Payment for order flow back in limelight. (ISE Holds Out).
March 1, 2003... Like a bad penny that won't go away, payment for order flow is back and lame-duck Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Harvey Pitt is seeking to end the practice as one of his last acts as head of the regulator. Pitt sent a...

China relaxes barriers to entry. (Breaking Borders).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... One of the last frontiers in trading may finally be trekked. China has taken steps toward opening its moribund futures markets to foreign investment. In a move that cracks the door ever so slightly into the Chinese market, the China Securities...

Battle for a benchmark. (My Eonia!).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Despite a one-week disadvantage in its launch date, Euronext.Liffe took an early lead over Eurex in the dash to become the exchange of choice for futures on the euro overnight index average (eonia) futures, which is the eurozone's benchmark...

Forex firm sued for client wrongdoing. (Fishing in Deep Pockets?).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Forex clearing and brokerage firm Gain Capital has been named in a lawsuit stemming from its role as clearing firm for Sterling Forex, a currency money management firm that lost customer funds and ran afoul of the CFTC in 2002. The suit hinges...

Eagle stumbles, recovers. (International News: Americas).(CME halts Eagle project on eurodollar contract due to order entry problem)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The Eagle project, the CME's attempt to provide screen-based spreading capabilities in the eurodollar contract, faced stoppages on the first two days of going live after its implementation was delayed several times in 2002. Trade was...

Model of modernity. (International News: Europe).(Borsa Italiana plans IPO)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... With Eurex and Euronext.Liffe preoccupied with their impending proxy war in the United States -- where the Liffe.Connect trade-matching system will power the CBOT against a new Eurex-backed exchange planned to be launched in January 2004 --...

Newer tech gauge. (International News: Europe).(Deutsche Boerse to replace its contranian technology indicator, the Neuer Markt Sentiment index)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Deutsche Boerse has thrown in the towel on its contranian technology indicator, the Neuer Markt Sentiment index, and will replace it with a TecDAX indicator based on the 30 companies in its new TecDAX index. Like the DAX contrarian indicator...

Major linkage. (International News: Pacific Rim).(Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Central Moneymarkets Unit links with Clearstream Banking Luxembourg's settlement system )
March 1, 2003... A new link between the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) and the settlement system of Clearstream Banking Luxembourg will allow CMU members, mostly banks in Hong King, to clear, settle and hold Clearstream...

Politics nudge golden goose. (International News: Pacific Rim).(all Korean Stock Exchange (KSE) listed derivatives will be moved to the Busan-based Korean Futures Exchange (Kofex). )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... In what some say is a politically driven decision, Korean Prime Minister Kim Dae-jung has promised residents of Busan -- a politically important region in South Korea -- all Korean Stock Exchange (KSE) listed derivatives will be moved to the...

Sweet new gig for softs guru. (Trading Places).(New York Board of Trade names Bernard Savaiko as exchange's economist)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Filling a position that had been vacant for more than two years, the I New York Board of Trade (Nybot) named Bernard Savaiko the exchange's economist. Savaiko, who will focus on research and analysis of Nybot markets, arrives from UBS Paine...

Hedge funds move to register. (Managed Money Review).
March 1, 2003... Hedge funds and fund of funds historically have been non-registered products because managers can use exemptions from various securities laws that allow them to avoid the lengthy registration process, which would limit their profitability. The...

Euro may have topped out. (Hot Commodities).
March 1, 2003... Something funny happened to the euro currency on the way to parity with the dollar, it just kept on going higher. The euro set a high of $1.0919 the night before Secretary of State Colin Powell presented the Bush Administration's case for a war...

Uncertain world, certain gold. (Hot Commodities).
March 1, 2003... In a world of uncertainty gold remains a constant, which is why gold floundered throughout the 1990s when things like recessions and wars were not on our radar screen. But now, geopolitical and economic uncertainty arc hack -- as is gold. ...

Hogs stall, correct. (Hot Commodities).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... April lean hogs moved from $40 per hundred lb. in June to over $60 late in the year but appear to be heading in the other direction as slaughter levels come in higher than anticipated. "We have seen disappointing slaughter levels relative...

Drought market in wheat? (Hot Commodities).
March 1, 2003... While it's rare for the wheat areas to experience back-to-back drought patterns -- the last time this happened was in the 1930s -- when trading c commodities, I've learned never to rule out the improbable. Drought fears again are mounting...

Soybeans ripe for option writers. (Market Strategy).
March 1, 2003... White option selling can certainly contain an element of risk, there is no more risk in selling a naked option than in taking an outright futures position if it is not done haphazardly. In most market conditions, there will be somewhat less...

Stocks at war. (Markets).
March 1, 2003... As an attack on Iraq became more certain day by day, the uncertainty of when and what the results would be has kept the U.S. economy, stocks and other markets in jittery anxiety. How will stock indexes respond? Stop me if you've heard this...

Trading the axis of economics. (Forex Trader).
March 1, 2003... At the heart of the appeal of forex trading is its global nature, offering 24-hour trading from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon. Yet, its global nature means that forex traders cannot extricate themselves from worldwide geopolitics. Whether...

Covering up with options. (Equity Trading Techniques).
March 1, 2003... Using mathematical advantage and expected results to analyze a trade, various naked options positions fall short of a covered call strategy, which may become more attractive as trading in single stock futures develops. Because of the cost,...

Let's go do the swap. (Trading Techniques).
March 1, 2003... Single stock futures provide far more than simply another tool for speculating on the next big move in the latest hot stock. Here's one application that might prove to be among the most useful and could drive the success of these new products....

Using Elliott wave patterns for price and time forecasts. (Trading Techniques).
March 1, 2003... Extensive research indicates that every Elliott wave pattern fits into a given mold. Once you identify that pattern, you can use historical ratios to make more accurate forecasts. To forecast markets with a high degree of accuracy requires...

Option sellers vs. buyers: who wins? (Trading Techniques).
March 1, 2003... Market lore long has been that you should be a seller and not a buyer if you want to be a winner in options. Now a study of three years of data for five markets provides statistical support for that widely held belief. Option traders...

Engulfing patterns: candlesticks' neon signs. (Trading Techniques).
March 1, 2003... After a long trending move, the engulfing patterns stand out on a chart like a sore thumb as a clear, visual signal that market sentiment has reversed. Here's what to look for. The most striking feature of Japanese candlesticks is their...

Online trading: what traders want; what brokers offer. (Technology & Trading).
March 1, 2003... As futures trading migrates to online trading, the No. 1 priority for traders is reliable, fast, efficient execution of orders. That's what brokers say they are trying to deliver, along with other services. Here are some brokerage choices. ...

Broker contacts. (Technology & Trading).
March 1, 2003... All information is provided by the firms. However, because firms do things different ways or may not have interpreted questions the same way, we cannot guarantee that all information is correct. Verify with the firm. Many other firms were...

Return of the long-term trend follower. (Cover Story: Managed Money).
March 1, 2003... Not only did managed futures, trend followers in particular, have a magnificent year in 2002 but they did it in a year that saw the third consecutive decline in the major equity indexes, and with hedge funds proving to be more correlated to...

'New' Europe: Hungarian contagion? Turmoil rocks Eastern Europe's burgeoning currency markets, creating more opportunities in trading the growth of the European Union. (Trade Trends).
March 1, 2003... Currency traders learned a lesson 'bout messin' with the Hungarian Central Bank (HCB) in January, when a two-day, two-basis-point rate slash -- coupled with a series of interventions estimated by some to have cost an unlikely $5 billion -- left...

Dateline.(Calendar)
March 1, 2003... MARCH 4 TUESDAY Crop summary 6 THURSDAY Germany Employment, Unemployment 7 FRIDAY COT report, Annual livestock slaughter, Employment 11 TUESDAY Crop production, Crop summary. Germany Production index,...

Year of the masters. (Trader Profile).
March 1, 2003... If 2002 was the year of the trend follower, then look no further than established champions of this approach for examples of success. Two such traders are William Dunn and John W. Henry, who have carved out long profitable careers on the simple...

Major Dow low coming up. (Tech Talk).
March 1, 2003... Putting the monthly cycle forecast together with the daily cycle forecast presents a strong case for a major cycle low in the Dow Jones Industrial Average near the end of the first quarter of 2003, according to the Cycle Projection Oscillator...