Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) articles from October 2003

Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) archives from October 2003

Editor's note.(State of the union)(stock exchanges)(Editorial)
October 1, 2003... These are some very complicated days. Energy prices have escalated, almost as quickly as the post-war violence in Iraq. The economy--according to pundits--seems to be getting stronger, but you couldn't tell looking at the high unemployment....

Spanning the margin gap.(Sound Off!)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... I write this in response to Peter Thorne's note in the August issue. After reading numerous articles about writing options, [Thorne] asked if it was necessary to have "a gazillion dollars to sell options" and for you to recommend some...

My loss. Your Gann.(Sound Off!)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... I was surprised to see David Burton's article on "Deciphering the Strategies of W.D. Gann" in the August Futures issue. According to Alexander Elder in his book Trading for a Living: "Various opportunists sell 'Gann courses' and 'Gann...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
October 1, 2003... CORRECTIONS: September's Managed Money Review should have stated that Campbell & Co. has raised the minimum investment on its public pool to $100,000. The Futures 101 article in that same issue should have identified Xpresstrade as a futures...

Eurex, Clearing Corp. cement deal: BOTCC saving face.(Trend Lines)
October 1, 2003... The pieces are falling into place for what looks to be the most high stakes game of musical (clearing) chairs the futures industry has seen. Eurex and the clearing corporation formerly known as BOTCC used the scenic backdrop of the Swiss Alps...

Chartview: Gold set to break?(Trend Lines)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... George Slezak of CommitmentsOfTraders.com called in mid-September to alert us to this development in the net commercial position in gold futures. The 20-year record hedger net short position suggests hedgers are setting future production with...

CME shuffles its deck: new guy at the top.(Trend Lines)(Craign Donohue, Jim McNulty)
October 1, 2003... While the world's largest futures exchange, Eurex, moves in on its home turf, the U.S.'s largest futures exchange is re-emphasizing that its strategic plans are still on track despite shuffling the top of its management flow chart. "We are...

CBOE to trade Vix futures: indicator turns instrument.(Trend Lines)(Chicago Board Options Exchange Inc., volatility index)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... First came stocks. Then came stock indexes. Then came futures on stock indexes. Then came options on futures of stock indexes. Now--after a decade of talking about it--the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has finally managed to create...

Updating forex responsibility: a higher standard.(Trend Lines)(National Futures Association)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The CFTC approved the National Futures Association's (NFA) new rules to combat fraud in the retail off-exchange Forex foreign currency market. The new rules impose tougher standards on firms that are forex dealer members of the...

No boundaries for CFTC.(Americas)(Casas Sendas Comercio E Industria S.A., Cafe Nord Corp., Commodity Futures Trading Commission)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The CFTC has filed suit with a simultaneous settlement against related Brazilian and British Virgin Islands companies for executing non-competitive trades on U.S. markets. Brazilian corporation Casas Sendas Comercio E Industria S.A. (Casas...

One big investment.(Americas)(Gain Capital, Tudor Ventures.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Online currency trading firm Gain Capital has received a $10 million equity investment from Tudor Ventures, the venture capital and private equity arm of Tudor Investment Corp. Tudor focuses on providing capital to mid- and late-stage...

Russian roulette.(Europe)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Few nations have as much potential for the development of derivatives trading as Russia--and few have been as frustrating. Jour Nikolai, head of international development for Moscow's RTS stock exchange, says that could change if legislation...

Everybody else is doing it ...(Pacific Rim)(Tokyo International Financial Futures Exchange)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... It seems that each day another exchange is merging, making deals or considering going public--now the Tokyo International Financial Futures Exchange (Tiffe) may join the trend. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper has reported Tiffe may be...

Mumbai tiger & Korean kitten.(Pacific Rim)(future exchanges)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The futures exchange launched three years ago by India's National Stock Exchange in Mumbai is on a pace to supplant Spain's Meff as the leading exchange for single stock futures (SSF), the exchange's assistant VP, Ramamurthy Sundararaman, said...

Donohue takes reins at CME.(Trading Places)(Craig S. Donohue, James J. McNulty, Phupinder Gill, Jonathan Arginteanu)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Craig S. Donohue is ready to take charge of the many growth ventures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in his new position as successor to James J. McNulty as CEO effective Jan. 1, 2004. Donohue, who played a major role in the CME's...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
October 1, 2003... CORRECTION: Dean Giordano's new title was misstated in the September issue. Giordano is Patsystems' new COO. Futures regrets the error.

Managed futures on the rise.(Managed Money Review)(Illustration)
October 1, 2003... After several years of outperforming traditional equity programs and more recently outperforming other alternative investments options, managed futures programs are starting to see the fruits of their labor. The Barclay Group, which tracks...

Beans fight back.(Hot Commodities)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... When we looked at grains earlier this season, the only hope bulls seemed to have was that because reversals of long-term trends (which last year's rally was) rarely are contained to one year, surely a late-term weather event was due to shake up...

Pump shock.(Hot Commodities)(prices and rates of gasoline)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The end of the summer driving season spike in gasoline prices came on schedule but appeared particularly harsh this year seeing that crude oil was well off its highs. It is vexing that gasoline only diverges from crude when crude drops, but...

Cocoa takes a hit!(Hot Commodities)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... September rains that mitigated concerns of August dryness, relative political stability and funds liquidating long positions all contributed to the Sept. 11 $103 drop in cocoa prices, according to analysts. Refco softs analyst Anne...

Yen fighting growth.(Hot Commodities)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... U.S. equity traders looking for undervalued stocks have turned to Japan, which has created a problem for the Japanese Ministry of Finance, which is bent on holding the yen down in order to protect export business. Despite exhortations from...

Energy prices: raising the bar: crude oil production was supposed to return to 'normal' with a quick resolution of the Iraqi war, but it hasn't happened, keeping energy inventories low and prices high. Throw in a blackout, and energy prices may remain firm for a long time.(Markets)(Cover Story)
October 1, 2003... The energy markets may seem Like one of those television soap operas. Since Futures' last energy outlook ("War or not, oil pressure rising," February 2003), traders have seen some rather dramatic events: * A U.S./British-led war against...

Watching the big boys in forex.(Forex Trader)
October 1, 2003... In trading the forex market, it's important to observe other players in this "game." By examining their roles, you may be able to improve your own trading approach. And who better to observe than the professionals? Prior to the advent of...

Diary of a wannabe day-trader: if you are a trader, you may be all too familiar with these events and emotions. If you aren't and aspire to be--well, maybe this will prepare you for some of the most exhilarating and exasperating experiences you'll ever have.(Equity Trading Techniques)
October 1, 2003... No two experiences are ever the same with trading, but familiarizing yourself with the successes (and failures) of others gives you at least an idea of what to expect. Here's one beginner's story--Ed. SATURDAY Dear Diary: OK. I'm...

Base metal werewolves in London: base metals are one of the purest markets around (read: relatively untainted by the whimsical trades of the speculative crowd). This makes it one of the more interesting complexes for trading and intermarket analysis.(Trading Techniques)
October 1, 2003... With apologies to U2... I have bought the highest tech stock / I have run through my funds Only to lose a few / Only to lose a few I have bought, I have held / All the stocks that have smelled That have smelled / Only to lose...

Detecting the 'right' candlestick signals; candlesticks provide a light into investor thinking, but they sometimes give off confusing signals when a market is trending. Here's how to correlate trends and candlesticks in a profitable trading strategy.(Trading Techniques)
October 1, 2003... Candlestick signals provide an immense advantage to investors when trying to pinpoint the best trades available. The implied logic built into the signals creates a platform that always places the probabilities in the candle-stick investor's...

Why energy 'seasonals' may surprise you: winter. Heating oil. Higher prices. That grouping seems to go together logically. But in markets where price precedes consumption, what you think you know may not always be so.(Trading Techniques)
October 1, 2003... Leaves fall outside in the cool, crisp October air. Inside, the phone rings. The voice is eager, almost breathless. "Do you want to turn $5,000 into $20,000, $30,000, even $50,000?," the caller begins. "We can show you how. Buy heating oil...

It's a bond-stock-futures single stock futures confounded regulators and investors alike, with their dual instrument status. What, then, can we expect from futures on bond ETF shares? Here's a head start.(Trading Techniques)(exchange-traded funds)
October 1, 2003... What's the most fun you can have in New Orleans without a handful of beads? Some would say ordering a turducken, the Cajun celebration of culinary excess consisting of a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken (and don't forget the...

Making the case for the trade one of the most classic forms of analysis is finding past market action similar to today's and using what happened in the past to forecast the future. However, such analog analysis often is approached incorrectly. Here's the scientific way.(Technology & Trading)
October 1, 2003... A-nal-o-gy (e nal'e je), n., pl. -gies. agreement or resemblance in certain aspects, similarities between dissimilar things. The use of analog analysis in trading is the comparison of charts or sections of charts in an effort to find...

Software review.(Product/Service Evaluation)
October 1, 2003... The trick when buying software is getting what you need. While some traders strike the right tone between features and power, it's probably safe to say that many purchase a Rolls Royce when all they need is a Buick. And it's not all an issue of...

Risk control for small traders: before you can make the big wins you have to learn how to limit the losses. The best way is to choose the right markets and to know the limits of your capital and how to preserve it.(Futures 101)
October 1, 2003... Amounts play a big role in trading--amount of capital to start with, amount of contracts to trade, amount of capital to risk. Having enough capital to trade is important, but not as important as keeping it from disappearing. THE RIGHT...

Protective options versus protective stop orders.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Consider the case of CBOT September Oats, below. Assume it's the later half of July 2003 and the trader has identified a historical level of support at 137 cents shown by the red solid line, which in the future will mark a level of resistance....

Software.(New for Traders)(Market Technologies Corp., AmiBroker)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... A new version of AmiBroker has been released. Version 4.40 includes an enhanced AFL engine with native user-definable functions and procedures with parameters and local variables, explicit variable scope control, volume-at-price overlay charts...

Services.(New for Traders)(CMC Group, Ergo Inc., Harmonic Software Inc.)
October 1, 2003... Ergo Inc. has launched the Web site www.indexarb.com to provide individual and institutional investors with information about program trading. Each trading day the site lists the difference between the futures and the spot index that represents...

XPRT.(New for Traders)(eXtensible Programmable Real-time Trading, May Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... XPRT (eXtensible Programmable Real-time Trading), a new equity securities trading system for institutional customers, has been introduced by May Financial Corp. XPRT integrates order entry, alerts, charts, filters, news, information, quotes and...

Hot new CTAs: exploiting trends and managing reversals: the large dislocation in markets that made 2002 one of the best periods for CTAs continued into 2003, but the last year also was marked by stunningly sharp reversals that sapped months of positive returns. Here are three newcomers who successfully navigated the rough seas.(Managed Money)(commodity trading advisors)( Covenant Capital Management)
October 1, 2003... This is the 14th year Futures has profiled up and coming commodity trading advisors (CTAs). This year we selected three that managed to fulfill the oftstated goal of taking advantage of existing trends while designing strategies that avoid...

New era for out-trades: electronic trading has added efficiencies to markets, but because humans place trades, human error cannot be eliminated. While technology can eliminate some types of errors, it can't act intuitively. The speed and efficiency of matching engines can even work against it, executing orders automatically without the ability to spot clearly wrong price action.(Trade Trends)
October 1, 2003... "I fell out of my chair." That's how commodity trading advisor Jerry Jacobs reacted to seeing the E-mini S&P 500 futures spike by more than 100 handles in less than one minute last February. Jacobs' reaction was undoubtedly repeated in...

Contract dates.(Dateline)(Illustration)(Calendar)
October 1, 2003... 1 FND: Nymex Platinum F, Palladium F. LND: CBOT Sep 2-yr. T-notes F, Nybot Sugar F. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2 LTD: CME Sep Milk F, OF, Sep Weather F, OF. 3 LTD: CME Butter OF, Currencies OF, Live cattle OF, Nybot Dollar index OF,...

Kevin Bruce: improving on a passion.(Trader Profile)
October 1, 2003... Kevin Bruce has been trading futures based on the same trend-following methodology he developed in the late 1970s as a graduate student at the University of Georgia. Despite 25 years of trading for himself and as a proprietary trader for Signet...