John Lothian's Daily Futures & Securities Industry Newsletter

 

January 29, 2003

 

Lead Stories


American Stock Exchange Celebrates 10 Years of the SPDR (PR Newswire)
With assets topping more than $35 billion and average daily trading of 34 million shares, the American Stock Exchange (Amex) today celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the start of trading in its flagship exchange traded fund , SPDR - Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts .
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030129/nyw033_1.html

 

US options markets seek end to payment for orders
http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/newswire/2003/01/28/rtr861938.html

 

Bush Nominates Donaldson to Chair SEC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Tuesday formally nominated Wall Street banker William Donaldson to be chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, sending his nomination papers to the Senate, the White House said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030128/pl_nm/financial_sec_donaldson_dc_2

 

NYBOT’S Sugar No. 11 Contract Continues Record Pace
http://www.nybot.com/pressRelease.asp?releaseID=541

 

Exchange News

 

CBOT Enhances Liquidity In Agency Futures
http://www.riskcenter.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=6134

 

CBOT To Launch Fed Fund Options Contracts
http://www.riskcenter.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=6130

 

CBOT to Launch Fed Fund Options Contract - 01.28.2003
The new contract will begin trading on Friday, March 14, in the open auction marketplace.

 

CBOT Appoints ABN AMRO as Agency Futures Market Makers - 01.28.2003
CBOT enhances liquidity in Agency Futures with apppointment of ABN AMRO as market maker.
http://www.cbot.com/cbot/www/cont_detail/0,1493,10+24+109+10820,00.html

 

Wash Trades on a/c/e Prohibited - 01.29.2003
Exchange rules and regulations prohibit the knowing execution of transactions that result in no change of ownership.
http://www.cbot.com/cbot/www/cont_detail/0,1493,10+24+268+10831,00.html

 

Regulation 350.04 - Assignment Trades - 01.29.2003
http://www.cbot.com/cbot/www/cont_detail/0,1493,10+24+268+10832,00.html

 

CBOT/ Dow Jones Strike Price Notice January 28, 2003 - 01.28.2003
http://www.cbot.com/cbot/www/cont_detail/0,1493,10+24+268+10822,00.html

 

DJ-AIG CI 2002 Performance Overshadows Equities - 01.28.2003
CBOT DJ-AIGCI Contract Sets Open Interest Record
http://www.cbot.com/cbot/www/cont_detail/0,1493,10+24+null+10485,00.html

 

UBS to list Fresco DJ EURO STOXX 50 Bees tracker on EURONEXT
http://www.euronext.com/en/euronext_org/news/press_releases/news.jsp?news.id=16196&lang=EN&isin=&quotetype=STOCKQUOTE

 

Toronto Stock Exchange Helps To Raise $40,000 At Junior Achievement / TSX Stock Market Challenge
http://www.tse.com/en/mediaNews/newsreleases/news3911.html

 

CBOE to List LEAPS on Action Performance Companies, Inc. (ATN) on January 30
CHICAGO, January 29, 2003 -- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) today announced it will list Long-term Equity AnticiPation Securities (LEAPS) on Action Performance Companies, Inc. (ATN) beginning Thursday, January 30, 2003.  LEAPS are stock options with a maturity date of up to three years in the future.  Action Performance Companies, Inc. will have strike prices of 10, 15, 20 and 25, with expirations in January 2004 (KGR).  (NOTE:  Strike prices are subject to change based on the price of the underlying security.)  Trading hours are 8:30 a.m. to 3:02 p.m. Chicago time.  CBOE also lists LEAPS on the following indexes: Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX); S&P 100 Index (OEX and XEO); S&P 500 Index (SPX); The Russell 2000 Index (RUT); as well as LEAPS on the CBOE Mexico, Technology, Internet and Oil indexes, and on CBOE interest rate products.

 

New Listing Maxtor Corporation
http://www.cboe.com/common/PageViewer.asp?FILE=03%2D034%2Edoc&DIR=TTNewLS&HEAD=New+Listings+%26amp%3B+Series

&SEC=5

 

Regulatory News


The SEC News Digest
http://www.sec.gov/news/digest/dig012803.txt

 

Securities Regulators Offer Tips for Canadians with Post-Holiday Money Worries
http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/news/NR03_09-CSA.asp

 

SEC to Consider More Mutual Fund Reforms (AP)
... planned actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission came less than a week after the SEC voted, over industry objections, to force mutual funds to tell investors how they voted on...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030129/ap_on_bi_ge/sec_mutual_funds_3

 

Reports

 

Bond Talk Today's Events
http://www.bondtalk.com/global.cfm?S=todaysevents

 

Miscellaneous News

 

Cain Joins Salomon Smith Barney’s Chicago Futures Office
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?section=what&story=what13467.html

 

Fimat Structuring Volatility Arbitrage Index
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?section=intl&story=intl9395.html

 

The Ins and Outs of Currency Hedging
http://biz.yahoo.com/ms/030129/86065_1.html

 

Duke Energy Posts Loss, Hurt by Trading (Reuters)
Duke Energy Corp. on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter loss as the energy-trading business cut into profits, and the company said it would look to power distribution and natural gas transmission for most of its future earnings.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030128/bs_nm/utilities_duke_earns_dc_4

 

TradeStation Group Preannounces Fourth Quarter Results of $.05 Per Share, Significantly Higher Than Previously Estimated (PR Newswire)
...TradeStation is an electronic trading platform that enables clients to design, test and monitor their own custom trading strategies......The trading platform currently offers streaming real-time equities, options, and futures market data....... forward-looking statements are based largely on current expectations and beliefs concerning future events that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties....... uncertainties indicated from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, but not limited to, the company's Annual Report on Form 10-...
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030129/flw001_1.html

 

E(x)TRADE Canada announces agreement to acquire Sun Life Securities brokerage accounts (Canada NewsWire)
..."For E(x)TRADE Canada, one of Canada's leading electronic trading businesses for consumers, corporations/employees and institutional brokers/dealers,...... to delight all of our newly acquired Sun Life Securities customers and all the future Sun Life Financial client referrals....... E(x)TRADE Canada Securities Corporation (discount broker), a member of the TSX, the TSX Venture Exchange, the Montreal Exchange, the Investment Dealers Association and the Canadian Investor Protection...... Services of Canada Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under ticker symbol "SLF"....
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/030128/e_trade_sun_life_deal_1.html

 

Hedge Funds for Pension Funds

http://www.iqpc.co.uk/GB-1967/E

 

New York Hedge Funds Care Benefit Set for Feb. 3
http://www.hedgeworld.com/news/read_news.cgi?section=dail&story=dail9676.html

 

Cargill renews its commitment to Farm Safety for Just Kids
http://www.cargill.com/today/releases/2003/03_01_28kids.htm

 

OM AB - Financial Statement 2002
http://domino.omgroup.com/www/OMBulletinBoard.nsf/OMPortalNewsRef/EE78E80C7A00AACFC1256CBD00255B78?OpenDocument

 

Opex exchange selects Elind for online trading
Opex, a new electronic communications network (ECN) based in Portugal, has contracted with India's Elind Computers for the supply and implementation of an online trading platform and Web- based IPO allocation system.
http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=7855

 

Broker Says Ganim Rigged Bond Sale Says Mayor Stood To Profit From Funding Pensions
NEW HAVEN -- A former stockbroker Tuesday said Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim manipulated what was to have been the most expensive municipal bond sale in state history, to allow the mayor to secretly profit from millions of dollars in potential sales commissions.
http://www.ctnow.com/news/custom/newsat3/hc-ganim0129.artjan29,0,217529.story?coll=hc-headlines-newsat3

 

Raiding costly for Hilliard Lyons Rival awarded $22 million over broker hirings
Louisville-based Hilliard Lyons has been ordered to pay $22 million over a claim that it raided a Michigan brokerage firm by hiring about 50 of its brokers.
http://www.courierjournal.com/business/news2003/01/29/bu012903s357563.htm

 

John's Comments

 

Globex Rules, EAGLE Eye View is Cool

 

For the third day in a row Globex traded higher volume than the CME's open outcry trading pits.  Yesterday there were 1,082,643 contracts traded on the Globex electronic matching engine, including 9532 Eurodollar futures traded on the EAGLE version of Globex.  Yesterday's open outcry volume was 989,505 contracts.  http://www.cme.com/wrappedpages/dbulletins_gbulletins/B2003018PG1.cfm

 

The CME set a daily volume record in the emini Russell at 11,256 contracts traded yesterday and traded 41 Lean Hog contracts on Globex. 

 

Today I set up Eurodollar futures on my PATS JTrader to see the tightness of the markets and the implied spreads.  I see 1 to 3 tick markets with up to 250 contracts on the best bid or offer for the first three contract months.  The implied spreads with depth on the Matrix screen of JTrader is very cool.  Actually, it is better than that.  This transparency, ease of trade and quick fills and order management is a tremendous advantage for the off the floor trader.  There appears to be market makers making two sided markets, which must be right in line with the pit given the tightness of the bids and offers.  Thus, this is unprecedented transparency for the off the floor trader into what is happening in the pit.  I am impressed.

 

*************

 

Mini Dow Record Record Broken

 

The Chicago Board of Trade did NOT set a new volume record in the Mini Dow contract, but still had one of its highest volume days at 26,897 contracts traded.  The Mini Dow continued its start of the year dominance over the mostly pit traded $10 multiplier Dow contract.

 

Mini sized New York Gold futures at the CBOT had an above average day with 364 contracts traded.

 

Commodity

a/c/e
Volume

Open Outcry
Volume

Total Exch
Volume

Cash
Exch

Give
Ups

Trans

Open Interest

At Close

Change

Dow Jones Industrial Average

945

19878

20823

0

3159

0

27606

-843

Dow Jones AIG Commodity Index

2

0

2

0

0

0

1418

Unch

CBOT mini-sized Dow Futures $5 multiplier

26897

0

26897

0

1799

16

14566

-182

 

Commodity

a/c/e
Volume

Open Outcry
Volume

Total Exch
Volume

Cash
Exch

Give
Ups

Trans

Open Interest

At Close

Change

mini-sized New York Gold

364

0

364

0

0

0

553

-202

mini-sized New York Silver

44

0

44

0

2

0

386

-24

 

*************

 

SSF Review

 

Nasdaq Liffe Markets traded 8002 single stock futures yesterday, with open interest increasing 672 to 24,090.  OneChicago traded 6750 contracts yesterday, with open interest increasing 1875 to 56,637.

 

Regards,

 

John J. Lothian

 

President

Electronic Trading Division

The Price Futures Group, Inc.

Chicago Board of Trade Building

141 West Jackson Blvd., Suite 1340A

Chicago, IL  60604

Ph: 1-800-713-0215 or 312-648-2426

Fax: 312-902-6437

email: jlothian@pricegroup.com

URL: www.pricegroupetd.com or www.pricegroup.com

 

Disclaimer: This letter is strictly the opinion of its writer, and not necessarily those of The Price Group and its management, and is intended solely for informative purposes and is not to be construed, under any circumstances, by implication or otherwise, as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or trade in any commodities or securities herein named. Information is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is in no way guaranteed.  No guarantee of any kind is implied or possible where projections of future conditions are attempted.  Security futures are not suitable for all customers.

Futures and options trading involve risk.  Past results are no indication of future performance.