Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) articles from October 2008

Futures (Cedar Falls, IA) archives from October 2008

The party's over.(EDITOR'S NOTE)
October 1, 2008... A funny thing happened on the way to $200 a barrel oil. the price touched $147.27 and fell back to around $100 per barrel. (Who knew speculators had such power?) And though the danger of expensive oil destroying the global economy might have...

CBOE, CBOT settle.(CBOE IPO?)
October 1, 2008... A decades long battle between former members of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) over exercise right privileges (ERPs) again approached its conclusion when CME Group and CBOE announced a settlement...

Chartview: CFTC'S index numbers.(Trendlines)
October 1, 2008... Once the price of crude oil exploded in 2008, the size and suspected market influence of funds benchmarked to various long-only commodity indexes have been hot topics. The actual size of money benchmarked to these indexes has been in dispute....

From ECNs to exchanges.(MOVING ON UP)
October 1, 2008... Two major electronic communications networks (ECNs or so-called dark pools) moved closer to the light of full exchange status when BATS Trading received SEC approval for exchange status and Direct Edge announced a partnership with the...

Nymex says yes.(CME IS FUTURES)
October 1, 2008... In the end, Nymex members and shareholders approved their acquisition by the CME Group, with 78% voting in favor of the merger, exceeding the 75% minimum required. The deal closed on Friday, Aug.22. The deal consolidates more than 98% of...

New York metal.(A NON-CME FUTURES EXCHANGE)
October 1, 2008... NYSE Euronext (NYX) launched its futures exchange, NYSE Liffe LLC, and precious metals trading began in early September. Contracts included 100 oz. gold futures, 5,000 oz. silver futures, options on gold and silver futures and mini-sized 33.2...

Macquarie buys Shatkin Arbor.(ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST)
October 1, 2008... Shatkin Arbor Inc., the Chicago-based futures broker and clearing firm, has been purchased and will be integrated with Macquarie Futures USA Inc., a New York-based futures commission merchant (FCM). Its parent company, Macquarie Group,...

Leaver appointed CEO at DME.(Trading Places)
October 1, 2008... Thomas Leaver was named CEO of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME). Previously he was the COO of DME. "I am confident that [Leaver] will build on the successes achieved to date and lead the exchange through its next phase of development and...

Fed not in a hurry to raise rates.(Market Watch)
October 1, 2008... One of these days, the Federal Reserve is going to raise interest rates, but don't hold your breath. Notwithstanding surprisingly strong second quarter gross domestic product growth, the Fed still has grave doubts about the economic outlook...

CFTS issues report on index traders.(Managed Money Review)
October 1, 2008... Seeing all the reaction following the release of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's report on "Commodity Swap Dealers and Index Trader," I felt like a slacker. Here I had barely cracked the report when a half dozen or so groups had...

Eurover.(Hot Commodities)
October 1, 2008... In mid-July, the EUR/USD was trading at 1,6038 and crude oil was $147 per barrel. Now the economic slowdown has gone global, oil prices have collapsed and the once mighty euro has dropped to 1.40. "How far behind is the ECB on this? And how far...

Decent wheat.(Hot Commodities)
October 1, 2008... Since trading as high as $12.84 per bushel in March, December wheat has retreated to below $8. "Domestically we have increased our ending stocks," which are 574 million bushels compared with 306 million last year, says Joe Victor, grain analyst...

30-year itch.(Hot Commodities)
October 1, 2008... Since late July, 30-year Treasury bond futures have rocketed from 114 to near 120. Jack Broz, president of the Marlin letter, explains firms bought new paper at a yield of 4.7% and pushed rates up through auctions, then a couple of overseas...

Beans don't like wet feet.(Market Strategy)
October 1, 2008... The old timers always said "beans don't like wet feet." This is because beans are susceptible to diseases like bacterial blight, pod and stem blight, downy mildew, phytophthora rot, sclerotinia stem root, sudden death syndrome and a myriad...

How the energy landscape will impact the election: energy and metal markets have been on a wild ride the last few years and what has pushed team may not be what you think. To determine where we are headed requires an examination of how we got to where we are.(MARKETS)
October 1, 2008... In the first six months of his year the moves in oil were just stunning. Oil surged from around $91 per barrel to a high of $147.24, the biggest six-month move in the history of the oil market. The move was explosive, but the larger question...

Metal bull getting heavy.
October 1, 2008... Whether traded on Comex in New York or on the London Metal Exchange, base metals are priced in U.S dollars, and the relative value of the U.S. dollar has an enormous affect on prices. During this most recent global economic expansion, a debased...

Tech talk: trading in dangerous times.
October 1, 2008... For a long time commodities is general and crude oil in particular seemed to go up everyday. Crude oil had a parabolic rally for the first six months of the year. Of course the key to keeping those profits was to say "enough was enough." Many...

Forex trading and the U.S. elections.(Forex Trader)
October 1, 2008... This month represents the quadrennial opportunity for forex traders to the U.S. elections. The election campaign is fast approaching its apex and all markets are paying closer attention to the probabilities of the outcome. At hand is an...

Trading the election: Barack Obama suggests a John McCain administration would be a third Bush term while McCain tries to usurp the mantle of change from Obama. Regardless of who wins, change is coming, and with change comes profit opportunity.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
October 1, 2008... This Nov. 4 U.S. voters will choose between Republican candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama. The big issues will include the economy, Iraq, and energy prices. As a voter, you likely will view this contest based on the...

Exploiting relationships in metal futures: by comparing volatilities and valuations among futures options on gold, silver, copper and aluminum, we can see which markets are priced highest relative to their cash counterparts and glean ways to exploit those relationships in trading.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
October 1, 2008... Option values depend primarily on time and volatility--enough time for prices to vary and sufficient price volatility to make time worthwhile. Options on metal futures reflect these valuation principles. On a relative basis, the most valuable...

Using net flow value for algo profits: after examining the growth and effects of algorithmic trading in the previous installment, this article will look at ways individual traders can take advantage of how algo trading moves money from one market to another.(TRADING TECHNIQUES)
October 1, 2008... This article is the second part of a two-part series on algorithmic (algo) trading. Algo trading is about using computer automation to move money to take advantage of the best opportunities. The growth of this strategy has been particularly...

Crude companion: the key to trading crude oil efficiency is understanding exactly what it is, and it may not be what you think. Here, we'll look deep into the barrel to uncover some useful information about the commodity Americans have come to love - and hate - like no other, and apply what we learn in a trading system.(TECHNOLOGY & TRADING)
October 1, 2008... Crude oil is not that useful in the form comes out of the ground. It requires a lot of processing to make it into the products that we all know and love. Nor is all crude oil the same. Different oil fields deliver crude oil of varying viscosity...

Trading with trendlines: perhaps more than any other common analysis technique, trendlines reflect the notion that a pronounced price trend is the most critical attribute of any market. Here are the basics of this simple but powerful tool.(FUTURES 101)
October 1, 2008... When you buy or sell a futures contract, you generally expect to make money by price subsequently rising or falling. The longer and quicker price rises or falls, the more money you make. In the best cases, price continues to make strides in the...

Electrification of markets: the revolution of electronic trading has created huge growth and provided numerous opportunities, but it also has created some challenges to traders.(REVOLUTIONS IN TRADING)
October 1, 2008... A click of a mouse is all it takes to trade a market. Like the toddler in the E*Trade commercial demonstrates, electronic trading provides unprecedented access by anyone at anytime to a multitude of global markets and trading information....

Automated high frequency retail trading: the combination of electronic markets, complex algorithms and computers has led to a revolution in trade automation. Lower brokerage fees and affordable data and software packages have extended that revolution to retail traders.(REVOLUTIONS IN TRADING)
October 1, 2008... The growth in the electronic trading of stocks, futures and options and the accompanying increase in volume, lower commissions and speed of order execution have created market data networks that support high frequency trading by the retail...

The data delivery revolution.(Revolutions in Trading)
October 1, 2008... I began trading the futures markets in the late 1970s. The only data source available for trading was daily charts, usually purchased from a vendor and updated by hand. Technical analysis consisted primarily of a few crude indicators. Cycle...

Product development in the age of indexing: revolutionary changes have occurred throughout the futures and derivatives industry and one important aspect has been in product development generally and indexing in particular.(REVOLUTIONS IN TRADING)
October 1, 2008... It is hard to believe, but equity indexes (and futures and options based on them) became a commonly used investment tool only 25 or so years ago. As more and more investors began to apply indexes to their strategies the demand grew for more...

Forex story: only the strong survive: no sector has seen the revolutionary growth of forex, particularly retail forex. But along with unprecedented access to currency markets came sleazy practices and outright fraud. Revolutionary change is often followed by a more conservative period where the excesses of the prior period are brought in line. That appears to be what is happening in the booming retail forex market.(REVOLUTIONS IN TRADING)
October 1, 2008... In the "old" days, say 10-15 years ago, the foreign exchange market was the playground of big banks and multinational corporations. Few looked behind the curtain as the deep, liquid market was a closed club, fitted with direct dials to key bank...

The market itself was the revolution.(Revolutions in Trading)
October 1, 2008... Any discussion of the innovations most responsible for change in the futures and derivatives markets should begin with financial futures in general and Treasury futures in particular. Financial futures reshaped the entire financial market, not...

Hot New CTAs: back to basics managed futures has seen a return of long-term trends in 2007 and also greater interest in the traditional commodity futures markets. The year has also seen some dramatic reversals that would test the mettle of the most experienced risk managers.(MANAGEDMONEY)
October 1, 2008... This is the 19th year Futures has profiled emerging commodity trading advisors (CTAs) and it has been an interesting year. While in general it has been a very positive year for futures traders, 2008 also has included some major reversals that...

Last year's HNC scorecard.
October 1, 2008... Although every year we profile emerging CTAs, we preface the story with the qualification that the feature is "not an endorsement but a review of new talent," we certainly like it when our Hot New CTAs follow up that distinction with solid...

Indian exchanges: the electronic silk road: this time next year, if all goes according to plan, U.S. traders will be able to access India's booming financial futures markets. Here's a look at the key players and impending milestones in one of the world's most exciting derivatives markets.(TRADE TRENDS)
October 1, 2008... Among other things, Jignesh Shah knows his numbers and his history. "In the 16th Century, India accounted for 15% of world trade and 50% of world GDP," he says. "At present, India's share of world trade is just 0.5% and GDP is about 2%." (See...

CONTRACT DATES.(Dateline)(Calendar)
October 1, 2008... 1 LTD: BM&F IBrX-50 F, Alcohol OF, Euronext-Liffe Nov Rapeseed Oil OF 3 LTD: CBOT Ethanol forward month swap F 8 LTD: BM&F Alcohol F, Nybot Cotton F 9 LTD: Euronext-Liffe Nov Feed Wheat OF 10 LTD: BM&F Nov Arabica coffee OF,...

Events coming up.(Conference news)(Calendar)
October 1, 2008... Visit Web sites listed for more information. For other seminars, see the classifieds on pages 86-89. LEM Metals Seminar 2008. Oct. 13, 2008. Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center, London. www.lme.co.uk FIA Futures & Options Expo 2008....

Powers: building from the ground up.(Trade Profile)
October 1, 2008... Pete Powers. CEO of Cranwood Capital Management. was always interested in trading, but when he got what he thought was his big break in the institutional fixed income department at Dean Witter Reynolds, it turned out to be an order desk job....