Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) articles from October 2004

Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) archives from October 2004

Dog shoots man.(presidential elections)(Editorial)
October 1, 2004... When I saw the story about a puppy shooting a man (it was in self defense), I knew we had entered the Twilight Zone. This is on the heels of a bear getting drunk (on a micro-brewed beer, no less) and the vice president of the United States...

Background check.(Sound Off!)
October 1, 2004... I receive Futures magazine and have been trading for some time. I am currently interested in using a CTA... to manage some funds for me.... Do you know of an easy way that I can check up on this company to make sure I'm not walking off...

We're crushed!(Sound Off!)
October 1, 2004... Ann Barnhardt's article "A kinder, gentler cattle market" [September 2004] will not hold water. I contacted her about the idiosyncrasies and all she said was to convert the corn bushel price to hundredweight. Editor, beware before you print...

My precious.(Sound Off!)
October 1, 2004... The article on precious metals ["Understanding the precious in metals," September 2004] was a nice practical trading guide. Consider more such articles in your magazine. I am a new trader, and I need to learn about the basics first before I can...

And then there was one: NQLX is out of the SSF biz.(Trendlines)
October 1, 2004... The first U.S. exchange to announce its intention to trade single stock futures and become an approved market for them has become the first to suspend trading. NQLX announced on Sept. 1 that it will halt trading in all of its security futures...

Will Theo roar? Technology streamlines cross-product hedging.(Trendlines)
October 1, 2004... Software developed by OneChicago, already available on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, promises to demonstrate the savings traders can achieve through hedging with futures. Option market makers piloting the software say it is...

What goes around ... TT patents trading off the book.(Trendlines)
October 1, 2004... Trading Technologies' CEO Harris Brumfield likes to say that TT's innovations have the ability to place customers on the top step of a global trading pit. By virtue of recent patents issued to TT related to the functionality of their MD Trader...

Fun with flipping: large players test MTS.(Trendlines)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The trading floor past-time known as "running the stops" continues in the new electronic markets. Earlier this year, Eurex tightened its bid/offer spreads to prevent a major player known as "The Flipper" from batting the market around by...

Chartview: electronically driven.(Trendlines)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... In the context of a seemingly constant flow of various volume records, some might be surprised to learn that open outcry trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange actually has fallen by 23% the last year. That says a lot about the growth of...

Energetic acquisition.(International News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Merrill Lynch and Co. will acquire the energy trading businesses of Entergy-Koch, LP (EKLP), expanding the firm's product offering to institutional investors and corporate clients. EKLP has focused its trading activities on natural gas,...

Rosenthal is Saxo-licious.(International News)(Rosenthal Collins Group and Denmark's Saxo Bank's joint efforts )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Rosenthal Collins Group and Denmark's Saxo Bank have joined efforts to offer European banks forex trading and information technology to online investors through the new RCG Trader platform. "We see the retail FX market growing very rapidly...

RJO in harmonic relationship.(International News)(R.J. O'Brien and Associates Inc)(Harmonic Investment Management)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... In an attempt to obtain an immediate and bigger presence in the alternative asset management sector, R.J. O'Brien and Associates Inc. has acquired Harmonic Investment Management, a Memphis-based firm specializing in alternative investment...

Oops! They did it again!(International News)(Sons of Gwalia gold producer in Australia)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Derivatives are initially being blamed for the downfall of Sons of Gwalia, a large gold and tantalum producer in Australia. Allegedly, the company was forward selling more gold than it could deliver and had further exposure in put options and...

Fuel to the fire.(International News)(fuel oil futures contracts )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... More than 90,000 fuel oil futures contracts switched hands on the first day they traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange on Aug. 25. Seven contract varieties were listed. Industry watchers say China's launching of fuel oil futures is in...

Chi-town/sino relations.(International News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Traders looking to play the volatile Chinese market will get another vehicle on Oct. 18 when the CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) launches its China Index--a 16-component index made up of mainland Chinese companies that meet the accounting standards...

30 years of Futures ...(Trendlines)
October 1, 2004... Traders and markets come and go, but Futures has thrived for more than three decades by providing unbiased tips, news, profiles, advice and current market analysis. Here, we spotlight some events Futures has covered during its 32 years. Here's...

Parsons growing with MFA.(Scott Parsons appointed at the Managed Funds Association, Rick Gallwas promoted at RJO Futures and Michael Calvelli appointed at Advanced Financial Solutions)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Scott Parsons is looking forward to learning more about the managed funds business as the executive vice president for strategic and government affairs at the Managed Funds Association. The former chief of staff and COO at the Commodity Futures...

Discretionary profits.(Managed Money Review)
October 1, 2004... Discretion may or may not be the better part of valor, but so far in 2004 it has led to better performance by commodity trading advisors. The Barclay Discretionary Traders Index (see below) has outperformed the Systematic Traders Index by...

Euro chop.(Hot Commodities)(european economy in the context with U.S. economy)
October 1, 2004... Looking at a daily chart of the euro, you can understand how a majority of foreign exchange-based managers have lost money this year. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The strong trending currency markets that led to many positive returns for...

Charley, Frances, Ivan--oh my!(hurricanes damaging economy)
October 1, 2004... What happens to a commodity that enters an extremely bullish technical pattern then experiences an extreme fundamentally bullish event? It goes up. Peter DeSario, softs analyst at Elliott Wave International, says that the May low completed...

No teens for these beans.(Hot Commodities)(soybean production in China)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... After a nearly six-month free fall, November soybeans appeared to be recovering in August but fears of an early frost subsided and beans dropped back below $6 by early September. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The short-term recovery may...

Clear signals from the Fed.(Market Watch)(Federal Open Market Committee)(Federal Reserve Board)
October 1, 2004... Seldom do markets get so clear a signal about the central bank's intentions as when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told the House Budget Committee, less than two weeks before the Sept. 21 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting,...

Crude oil: adjusting to a new world.(MARKETS)
October 1, 2004... OPEC producers are pumping every last drop, supplies are threatened almost daily in Iraq, concerns have risen that shipments from Russia could be disrupted--all occurring while global demand is on the rise. This clearly spells higher oil...

Tech talk: matching Bollinger bands with the COT report.
October 1, 2004... Everyday in the news there is something to panic or be concerned about regarding crude oil. There is a constant feeling that either there are not enough reserves or that a significant event will happen that will cut off supply. Because the...

Trading the byproducts of energy production.(MARKETS)
October 1, 2004... The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) has been described as a marketplace where traders can help the environment while doing well for themselves. This multi-sector marketplace for reducing and trading greenhouse gas emissions is part of an...

Oil in charge.(Forex Trader)(prices and rates of oils)
October 1, 2004... One of the benefits of following the forex market is an enhanced sense of global events. Currency movements react to immediate news as well as reflect larger geopolitical forces. In recent months, one of the fundamental forces that cascaded...

Price bands that go with the flow: volatility is an important component to any analytical approach. Here's how to build a volatility measure into a standard price oscillator so its extreme values move with the market's momentum.
October 1, 2004... Momentum indicators measure the velocity at which a security's price is changing. They track momentum in the price and in this way reveal the relative enthusiasm of buyers and sellers involved in the trading process. The most popular technical...

Speculation--New Orleans style: it's said that a trader has to pay his tuition to the markets to eventually be successful. A unique class and independent internship program are putting that theory to the test. Here's their story.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
October 1, 2004... Education evolves with student interests, and as students of trading become more interested in classes that bridge the gap from financial theory to real world application, universities are offering more of what are known as experiential...

Percent perfect trading: what makes a trading system "good" and what makes a trading system "bad" is relative based on how well your money might have performed elsewhere--or is it? Here's one measure that not only provides an objective measure of system performance but can be used as a rather effective filter.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
October 1, 2004... The first rule of developing a trading system is test, test, test. Take as much historical data as you can get your hands on, from different markets, and from different time periods, and test your ideas on that data. Just because a system...

Price patterns the systematic way: trading patterns are one of the oldest--but most subjective--patterns of technical analysis. But some classes of patterns can be objectively programmed. The result is a powerful mechanical tool to add to your trading systems.(TECHNOLOGY & TRADING)
October 1, 2004... For traders in the short- to intermediate-term time frames with holding times of less than a month, the systematic application of classic indicator methodologies do not perform that well. For example, buying when the relative strength index...

Breaking Murphy's law: you were waiting for the profits to roll in on what you thought was the perfect trade, then you watched your gains turn into major losses. It could have been avoided.(FUTURES 101)
October 1, 2004... Sometimes you're sure that not only is the market against you, but you're convinced that there are other forces disrupting your trading efficiency. The incredible volatility and surging prices in soybeans this year created one such...

Hot new CTAs: new markets, new strategies.(MANAGED MONEY)(commodity trading advisors)
October 1, 2004... After a couple years of strong returns, CTAs are facing their toughest year since 1999. New CTAs, finding it hard to break into the trend-following ranks, are choosing niche markets to find success with alternative strategies often targeting...

Election trading: the great crusader/liberal weenie spread.(TRADE TRENDS)(Cover Story)
October 1, 2004... With all the focus on Swift Boats and Schwarzenegger, it's easy to forget there are real issues at stake in the presidential election--and real impact on markets. One high-profile study shows Democratic administrations coincide with a healthier...

The other American markets: Brazil's BM & F exchange remains the big man on the continent down below as far as derivatives go, but Mexico's MexDer may be gearing up for some surprises.(TRADE TRENDS)
October 1, 2004... Latin American derivatives markets have tended to get short shrift from North American traders--even though the region is home to one of the world's top 10 exchanges in terms of volume--Brazil's Bolsa de Mercadorias & Futuros (The Brazilian...

All About Market Timing.(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... All About Market Timing By Leslie Masonson McGraw Hill (2004) 246 pages, $19.95 Market timing is analogous to carrying an umbrella after hearing a weather forecast of rain. An umbrella keeps you protected from getting wet...

Advanced Swing Trading.(Book Review)
October 1, 2004... Advanced Swing Trading By John Crane John Wiley & Sons Inc. 219 pages, $69.95 The author promises to acquaint readers with "a whole new way of using time, price and patterns to predict market (price) moves." That is essential...

Spooz Inc.(Software)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Spooz Inc. has launched SpoozToolz, software that bundles real-time market data, technical analysis, charting, order execution and other functions designed primarily for futures and options traders. The program is an add-in to Microsoft's Excel...

FibMarkets.com.(Services)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... FibMarkets.com now provides free Fibonacci lessons, teaching how to use Fibonacci analysis. Traders can log onto www.fibmarkets.com/cgi-local/aefs/signup.cgi. Through FibMarkets.com traders can learn about support/resistance levels and how to...

Reuters.(Services)(Reuters Group PLC)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Reuters has launched Reuters Order Routing for Equities (RORE), an electronic equity trading community. It is a single equities and equities derivatives transaction network. The RORE network supports a global equity trading community of more...

Field Financial Group.(Services)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Field Financial Group has launched the FFG Market Update Center. Users receive weekly updates and intraday market alerts with technical and fundamental analysis on futures and options. Included are entry points with predetermined stop-loss...

FibonacciSecrets.(Services)(www.fibonaccisecrets.com)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... FibonacciSecrets has launched its new Web site at www.fibonaccisecrets.com. Free weekly Fibonacci Analysis is being offered through www.fibonaccisecrets.com/blog. With FibonacciSecrets, users can implement price analysis, develop the ability to...

Contract dates.(Dateline)(Calendar)
October 1, 2004... 1 FND: BM & F Alcohol F, Nybot Sugar #11 F, Nymex Palladium F, Platinum F. LND: Nybot Sugar #11 F. LTD: BM & F Alcohol OF, CME Butter OF, Live cattle OF, Nybot Nov Cocoa OF. 7 LTD: Nybot Cotton F, Simex Nikkei 225 F, OF, Nikkei 300 OF. ...

Events coming up.(Calendar)
October 1, 2004... Call the numbers listed for more information. For other seminars, see the classifieds on pages 76-81. Electronic Trading: The Evolution of Financial Markets Worldwide. OCT. 5. New York. E-mail: confs@fmwonline.com.(888) 870-1975 ext.81. ...

Emil Stavriotis' Midas touch.(Trader Profile)
October 1, 2004... Emil Stavriotis says he is just getting himself established as a money manager despite a lifetime of trading in the futures markets. It has taken Stavriotis a long time to establish his commodity trading advisor, PAS Management Inc., with its...