Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) articles from May 2004

Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) archives from May 2004

Paper beats rock.(Editor's Note)(economy)
May 1, 2004... In the game, Paper, Scissors, Rock, paper covers rock. This simple illustration could explain why metals right now seem to have a split personality. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Gold, a haven when economic times look tough and inflation...

30TH Floor, going up!(Sound Off!)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... While I agree with the analysis in the February issue about a new plateau in the energy markets ["New volatile plateau supports energies"], I wouldn't call it "volatile." Yes, the market itself will remain volatile until the turmoil in...

Book 'em!(Sound Off!)
May 1, 2004... Do more articles like ["Chopping out profits in Level 2 data" by] Clem Chambers in the March issue. Level 2 data and the book are new ways to look at the market. It's similar to when the [Chicago Board of Trade] came out with Market...

Where's Waldo?(Sound Off!)
May 1, 2004... In your "Traders view of the World" chart [April 2003], where are single stock futures? Where can I find some more information about them? S. Taylor Via e-mail They are not listed because none of them trades above our 3,000 daily...

A vixing dilemma: CME sues CBOE over volatility futures.(Trendlines)(Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and Chicago Board of Trade)
May 1, 2004... Following the creation of security futures exchange OneChicago, a joint venture of Chicago's three derivatives exchanges, and the common clearing link between the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), it appeared...

New avenues of competition: Eurex enters next phase.(Trendlines)
May 1, 2004... With Eurex US up and running--albeit with very modest volume--it has moved onto the next phase of its long-term strategy. In March, Eurex entered a non-exclusive licensing agreement with U.S. equity index developer Russell that gives Eurex and...

Move over SEC: CFTC makes power play for security futures.(Trendlines)(Commodity Futures Trading Commission)
May 1, 2004... On the same day the CFTC announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the SEC regarding cooperation in their joint oversight of security futures products, CFTC Chairman James Newsome said that the dual regulatory structure...

Sweet fuel: dueling ethanol contracts.(Trendlines)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... As evidence against the common complaint from FCMs that futures exchanges don't compete is the introduction of two new futures contracts based on ethanol. The New York Board of Trade will launch its sugar-based ethanol contract on May 7, and...

OTC coming of age.(International News)(over the counter derivatives trading)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Electronic trading of OTC derivatives took a giant step toward universal accessibility in April, when the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) released its latest recommendations for the FpML protocol designed to simplify...

Top billing for T-bills.(International News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Cash bond platform EuroMTS introduced its long-awaited reference market for European Treasury bills. The market could be a boon for trading in government securities, as it sets a benchmark standard and creates a single point of access for all...

Liffe stirs the pot.(International News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Euronext.Liffe announced it traded 36.1 million short-term interest rate (STIR) futures and options contracts in March. The performance makes the London-based exchange ranked first in the world in this category for the first time.

CME spans to China.(International News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The CME and the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) signed a licensing agreement allowing SHFE to adopt the standard Portfolio Analysis of Risk (Span) system. SHFE will initially use it for internal research purposes, and will formally introduce...

Another month, another MOU.(International News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The CBOT and the Tokyo Grain Exchange (TGE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), in which the exchanges will share information about new products, changes to existing contract specs and trading methods. The CBOT also recently has...

Court freezes assets in fraud case.(Managed Money Review)(Equity Financial Group LLC. , Shasta Capital Associates, (CTA) Tech Traders Inc. charged with fraudulent trading)(ranking of top commodity trading firms)
May 1, 2004... April 1 was no joke for three trading firms and two individuals charged with fraud or illicitly trading customer funds. In conjunction with a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enforcement action filed April 1, the U.S. District...

Steinhause takes the chair at Nymex.(Trading Places)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Mitchell Steinhause has been elected chairman at the New York Mercantile Exchange, and he says the OTC clearing service Clearport Clearing is going to be one of his main initiatives. "Clearport is an avenue for people to bring their...

Beans pushing, pulling.(Hot Commodities)(soybeans futures)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... While it has run into resistance, the soybean bull market is technically still alive and well, after 10 months of going strong. R.J. O'Brien commercial grain broker Bob Adduci doesn't see signs of a top in beans as carryout estimates of 115...

Is euro run over?(Hot Commodities)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The extended dollar weakness that led to huge currency moves in 2003 was evident in the euro more than any other currency. Gains in the euro fueled huge profits in trading programs, but with the euro off more than eight cents from its February...

Why so high crude?(Hot Commodities)(crude oil pricing)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Perhaps oil traders will learn to ignore announced production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), but until that happens and people watch what they are pumping instead of what they are saying, such announcements...

Will gold hold its luster? The threat of terrorist attacks, the dollar's slump and investors' understandable quest for a safe-haven have fueled gold prices to well over $400. Will gold reach $500 as some predict, or will a stronger greenback dull gold and other precious metals' recent blinding glow?(Markets)(Cover Story)
May 1, 2004... Gold will reach $350 by 2004. This was the prediction by analysts a couple years ago. But a 15-year peak and who knows, maybe a price of $450 or more per ounce? Hardly any dared to go this far. But with a weak U.S. dollar, large U.S. budget...

Tech talk: negative real interest rates, Elliott wave and a monster gold bull?(Markets)
May 1, 2004... The fruit of scientific inquiry is prediction. Economics and psychology are considered by most as "soft" sciences, but they still provide powerful investment prediction tools. One economic prediction tool is a negative real interest rate...

Strategies for setting stops.(Forex Trader)
May 1, 2004... In the 1960s, there was a famous play on Broadway called "Stop the World! I Want to Get Off!" The title engenders the same sentiment of many traders who get gripped by emotion--"Stop the trade! I want to get out!" It's easy to get into a...

Pairs trading: new look at an old strategy; Equity pairs trading is growing in popularity. This overview will point you in the right direction to begin integrating this approach into your broader trading plan.(Equity Trading Techniques)
May 1, 2004... Historically, pairs traders have been divided into two camps: those who favor a fundamental approach and those who favor a technical approach. While each of these approaches has certain advantages over the other, neither fully captures the...

Trading short-term price persistence systematically: short-term price persistence and anti-persistence can be found in most futures markets. Here we will explore two trading systems that exploit this property.(Trading Techniques)
May 1, 2004... Intraday price movements are more than random noise. Persistent short-term price changes can be captured systematically. We'll use two trading systems to show you how. One system is a simple "parametric" trading system while the other is a...

Forex futures vs. cash forex--trading in the then or now? With the flurry of interest in the retail cash forex market, futures traders might not understand the various differences to the futures products. Here we highlight distinctions between forex cash and futures markets from a trading technique perspective.(Trading Techniquesdsecuritiess)
May 1, 2004... Technology is driving change in the trading industry. It is allowing increasingly more investors to participate in the field of speculation. As this demand increases, so does the need for more trading vehicles. Retail-oriented currency trading,...

Inflation is everywhere & nowhere: a careful look at price changes as reported by the CPI-U indicates there are better ways to represent inflation in your analysis and trading.(Trading Techniques)
May 1, 2004... Know what everyone else knows, and you know nothing. No, this is not some extraneous detour into Zen navel-gazing, but rather a description of the conundrum traders face daily. Markets are a game in the economic sense, one wherein your best...

Better tactics for breakout traders; The classic question of trading is this: when a market has moved X amount, is that a sign it will continue moving in that direction or is it a sign it will turn? Combining breakout analysis with pivot points can show you the way.(Trading Techniques)
May 1, 2004... Technical analysis can help a trader quickly predict price direction, the entry and exit points for a trade, as well as the risk involved. There are various forms of technical analysis, from oscillators such as stochastics to math-based...

QuoTrek.(Software Review)(Product/Service Evaluation)
May 1, 2004... eSignal Corp. 3955 Point Eden Way Hayward, Calif. 94545 Phone: (510) 266-6000 Web site: www.esignal.com EXPERIENCE LEVEL: All levels. PRICE: $49.95/month. RECOMMENDED SETUP: BlackBerry, Palm Pilot or Pocket PC....

Can you handle it?(Online Trading)
May 1, 2004... There's no doubt that electronic trading has introduced a whole new array of people into trading. As the number of participants in the marketplace continues to grow, they are taking volumes to new levels and in many cases setting records. Quote...

Trading off 'commercials': the breakdown of large positions in the markets provided on COT reports gives traders opportunities to get in before a big move.(Futures 101)
May 1, 2004... One of the main resources available on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Web site, www.cftc.gov, is the Commitments of Traders (COT) report. These reports provide valuable information of which many traders do not take advantage. While...

Timing market timers: the term 'market timing' has gotten a bad name of late, but any time an investor pulls the trigger, whether on a specific trade or in deciding to invest with a certain manager, the timing of that decision will affect the performance of the investment.(Managed Money)
May 1, 2004... Commodity trading advisors discourage market timing of their programs, especially by individuals, but acknowledge that increasingly more institutional investors are doing it. Seeing that the act of investing in a CTA itself is an...

All systems go for euro convergence: on May 2, the European Union expands from 15 member states to 25, though the new states won't switch to the euro for at least another four years. The result is a thriving retail trading market in speculative and hedging plays on the Hungarian forint, the Czech koruna and the Polish zloty.(Trade Trends)
May 1, 2004... The last decade has been very good to Warsaw-based telecommunications engineer Agnes Kofluk. Although she still earns less than similarly qualified engineers in neighboring Germany, Kofluk has amassed a nice little nest egg with an itchy...

Common clearing report card: so far, the much heralded Chicago common clearing link has been everything it was cracked up to be. Most important, it was executed without a hitch.(Trade Trends)
May 1, 2004... From Day One, the common clearing link between the Chicago futures exchanges was welcomed with enthusiasm by the futures community. While many considered it a defensive action to thwart the momentum toward clearing choice supported by large...

2004 public funds returns (through March).(Funds Review)(Illustration)
May 1, 2004... Starting Name of fund Date unit U.S. Closed Trading advisor(s) started value Alternative Asset Growth ...

Contract dates.(Dateline)(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... 3 FND: BM & F Alcohol F, Conillon coffee F, Nybot FCOJ F, Sugar #11 F. LND: Nybot Sugar #11 F. LTD: BM & F Alcohol OF. [TABLE OMITTED] 4 FND: BM & F Arabica coffee F. 6 LTD: Nybot Cotton F. 7 LTD: CME Butter OF, CME $ Index...

Events coming up.(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... Call the numbers listed for more information. For other seminars, see the classifieds on pages 74-80. SAAFTI Annual Conference. MAY 3-5. The Doubletree Hotel, San Diego. www.saafti.com. (888) 261-0787. Futures and Options Seminar. MAY...

Riding the bull for profits.(Trader Profile)(commodities services)
May 1, 2004... John Hummel, president and principal of commodity trading advisor AIS Management predicts a very strong bull market in physical commodities for the next eight to 10 years, and he says the Multi Asset Allocation Portfolio (MAAP) 3X-6X program is...