April 8, 2005

 

Lead Commentary

 

By John J. Lothian

 

Financial Times’ Jeremy Grant Leaving Chicago, Futures & Options Coverage

 

Chicago and the futures and options industry are losing the Financial Times’ Jeremy Grant and his enterprising and enlightening coverage of its markets.  The Financial Time’s much read correspondent is moving to Washington, DC, following his colleague/wife Caroline Daniel, who has just been appointed the FT’s new White House Correspondent.  Chicago is losing two gifted reporters based here, foreign correspondents if you will for the UK-based FT, who are married to each other, and have written and reported incisively and eloquently about Chicago’s financial markets and the airline industry respectively.  Jeremy has also covered the auto industry and now the food industry while based in Chicago.

 

I am very thankful for Jeremy’s work, which I have gladly featured in this newsletter.  He has greatly helped add to the transparency of the markets, through his enterprising reporting of the global exchange competition story theme that has dominated his time in Chicago.  I know he has personally added to the readership of the FT’s paper edition and online version from readers exposed to his work through this newsletter.  Very early on Jeremy Grant grasped what this newsletter does and how to use it for the benefit of the FT.  He has promoted not just his own work to me, but the whole body of work the FT does.  He has made sure I know when the FT has a scoop and he has graciously acknowledged competitors scoops to me as well.

 

He has made me think more globally, and in fact one third of the FT's global circulation is now in the US (and it is even printed in Chicago). I am a better newsletter writer for working with him, commenting on his stories and watching him exercise the craft of quality journalism.  Though we have not agreed on all issues or stories, I have great admiration for his reporting abilities and his journalistic integrity.  

 

I am proud to call Jeremy a friend.  I will miss him here in Chicago and hope our professional paths cross again.

 

If you would like to thank Jeremy for his work in Chicago, or wish him well, you may contact him at jeremy.grant@ft.com.

 

Lead Stories

 

The Moment of Truth?

By Sue M. Halpern

 

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

by Malcolm Gladwell

Little, Brown, 277 pp., $25.95

 

The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger as Your Brain Grows Older

by Elkhonon Goldberg

Gotham Books, 337 pp., $26.00

 

In the 1990s researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Berlin conducted what seemed like routine man-in-the-street interviews: they asked pedestrians to tell them, off the tops of their heads, the names of German businesses. Led by the psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer, the researchers then constructed a stock portfolio made up of companies mentioned by 90 percent of the respondents. A few months later that portfolio had not only beaten the market soundly, it had performed better than ones constructed by money managers. Instead of assessing market fundamentals and dividend yields and economic trends, as the experts did, the psychologists took a shortcut—what in their language is known as a "heuristic"—that relied solely on name recognition. And because the researchers "put our money where our heuristic was" they ended up with both a wad of cash and a hypothesis to test further: that knowing less can be knowing more; that decisions derived hastily are more efficient and accurate than decisions based on exhaustive research when—or as long as—the decision-maker uses the appropriate shortcut to limit incoming information

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17954

 

***** When single stock futures started trading, I was tracking stocks on OneChicago that had the largest open interest and found the top ten open interest stocks outperformed the broader market indices.  I wonder if this is related to the dynamics at work in the study mentioned above.

 

Emotions a factor in playing markets: paper

Intense reactions make for significantly worse trading performance, MIT study says

A new paper finds that day traders who play it cool regardless of whether they are winning or losing do better than those that take their wins and losses hard.

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28380&IdSection=14&cat=14

 

Wind of change blows towards New York Stock Exchange

New York Stock Exchange floor brokers argue that the human element reduces volatility in the market, especially in times of crises. NEW YORK - When the board members of the New York Stock Exchange gathered in private yesterday, they had much to talk about.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10119410

 

New York Stock Exchange Chooses a Chairman

The New York Stock Exchange yesterday named Marshall N. Carter, a former chief executive of the State Street Corporation, an institutional investment firm, as its new chairman.  Mr. Carter, 64, succeeds John S. Reed, the former chairman of Citigroup, who was brought in to steady the exchange after the departure of Richard A. Grasso 18 months ago. Mr. Grasso was forced out as chairman and chief executive of the world's largest stock exchange shortly after it was disclosed that he was awarded a pay package of $139.5 million in deferred compensation and retirement benefits in 2003.

Mr. Reed was an interim chairman and

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/08/business/08nyse.html?

 

Former State Street CEO elected to head NYSE board

NEW YORK (AP) - Marshall N. Carter, former chairman and chief executive officer of State Street Corp., was elected chairman of the New York Stock Exchange's board of directors, the exchange confirmed Thursday.

http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=160502594

 

NYSE Honors Newly Elected Chairman

Marshall N. Carter rings The Opening BellSM on April 8, 2005.

http://www.nyse.com/events/1112870359732.html

 

Marshall N. Carter Elected Chairman of New York Stock Exchange

Three New Directors Elected; Six Incumbent Directors Re-Elected; New Board of Executives Appointed; Results of Proxy Proposals Announced

http://www.nyse.com/press/1112870357550.html

 

SEC Move Will Spur Adoption Of Electronic Trading April 7, 2005  

Revision of 'trade-through' rule allows investors to classify orders as 'immediate-or-cancel.'

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted Wednesday to revise the "trade-through" rule, giving investors the option of having orders executed immediately or be canceled.  The trade-through rule currently prohibits an exchange from bypassing, or trading through, a better price quoted on a competing exchange. The New York Stock Exchange has been a proponent of the trade-through rule; the exchange often quotes the best bid and offer prices. Under the trade-through rule, it therefore gets first dibs on most orders. The NYSE's competitors, including all-electronic exchanges such as Nasdaq, have argued that the rule gives the NYSE an unfair advantage and hurts investors who want orders executed immediately.

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=160502332

 

***** I would think that the passage of this rule would make securities futures, i.e. single stock futures, more attractive.  It would also make an investment in OneChicago more strategic for some exchange or institution.  Single stock futures trade electronically, in a single centralized exchange/match engine and traders can see not only the best bid and offer, but the depth of the market.  Speed, surety, depth of market, a level playing field and more are all right there if market participants want it.

 

Deutsche Börse Releases Letter to Christopher Hohn from TCI

http://deutsche-boerse.com/dbag/dispatch/en/listcontent/gdb_navigation/press/10_Latest_Press_Releases/Content_Files/13_press/pm_news_070405_letter.htm

 

**** Interesting reading, but you better have some time.

 

Deutsche Boerse Rejects Immediate Changes to Board (Update1)

U.K. April 7 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Boerse AG Chief Executive Officer Werner Seifert rejected calls by some shareholders to replace the supervisory board and instead offered to create a new committee to strengthen the company's ties with investors.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aDzo6LHmqv7U

 

Deutsche Boerse's TCI Letter Seen A Pacifier

0843 GMT [Dow Jones] Deutsche Boerse's (DB1.XE) plan to create shareholder committee is an attempt to pacify dissident shareholders, say traders. "If I don't know what else to do, I'll set up a committee," says trader.

http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_768524.html

 

Deutsche Boerse proposes up to 598 mln eur shr buyback this yr

FRANKFURT (AFX) - Deutsche Boerse AG has proposed to buy back shares worth up to 598 mln eur this year, and to increase its payout ratio "significantly" next year either through higher dividends, or further share buybacks.

http://www.sharewatch.com/story.php?storynumber=71193

 

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Ranked 1504th Largest Company In The World

http://www.forbes.com/static/for2k2005/rank_1501.html?partner=yahoo&id=4477

 

Industry slump deeper than first thought, securities group says

Good news is that there is a bull market in advisory roles, compliance jobs

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28379&IdSection=5&cat=5

 

Archipelago Exchange Initiates New Early Open

The Archipelago Exchange , the world's largest all-electronic stock exchange, today initiated its plan to open for trading at 4 AM Eastern Time for all U.S. listed and OTC stocks, following Securities and Exchange Commission approval.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050408/nyf021.html?.v=5

 

Archipelago Holdings, Inc. to Announce First Quarter 2005 Results

Archipelago Holdings, Inc. , owner and operator of the Archipelago Exchange , will release its first quarter 2005 results on Monday, April 25, 2005 and will hold a conference call the following day Tuesday, April 26, 2005 at approximately 11:00 am ET to review the results with the investment community.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050408/cgf200.html?.v=2

 

Regulator blasts prosecutors over Citigroup trade

FRANKFURT, April 7 (Reuters) - German financial regulator BaFin criticised prosecutors on Thursday for failing to pursue the Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) traders behind a controversial bond trade last year.  "The Frankfurt prosecutor decided that the actions of the traders were not criminal. We believe this is wrong," a spokeswoman for BaFin told Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=bondsNews&storyID=8117148

 

With no outcry, all’s quiet on Petroleum Exchange trading floor

Thursday was the last day for traders shouting orders; electronic trading coming to boost efficiency.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/business/11341620.htm

 

Unfortunate start for IPE's electronic trading

Human error disrupts systems for hour and a half

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050408/175/ffxsx.html

 

Nymex Chairman Forms Panel To Explore Strategic Options

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--New York Mercantile Exchange Chairman Mitchell Steinhause formed a five-person exploratory committee to look into the exchange's strategic options, Nymex members said Thursday.

http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?cat=USMARKET&src=704&feed=dji&section=news&news_id=dji-00113820050407&date=20050407&alias=/alias/money/cm/nw

 

Bumpy start for IPE's e-trading 

Human error at the International Petroleum Exchange yesterday briefly raised fears that the IPE's move to fully screen...

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c8cefb00-a7cb-11d9-9744-00000e2511c8.html

 

Environmental Trading News

 

Greenhouse gas market to slow global warming

Hot air is now for sale.

http://www.cnn.com/rssclick/2005/TECH/science/04/08/earth.trading.carbon/index.html?section=cnn_latest

 

A truly global problem

While the recent implementation of the Kyoto Protocol marked a key milestone, international accord on how best to address climate change remains elusive, as doomsday scientific forecasts clash with thorny political realities.

http://www.cnn.com/rssclick/2005/TECH/science/04/08/earth.policy/index.html?section=cnn_latest

 

Now That's A Liquid Investment

From filter makers to utilities, water stocks are attracting investors

Oil and copper stocks are benefiting handily from booming commodity prices. But another substance even more precious is boosting a previously overlooked group of stocks. Savvy investors, including small-cap maven Chuck Royce, Fidelity (FCNTX ) Contrafund manager William Danoff, and hedge-fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller, have been accumulating water stocks for months. Water?

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_16/b3929126_mz070.htm?campaign_id=rss_magzn

 

Exchange News

 

100-Ounce Gold Invoices

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1032+27532,00.html

 

Off-Exchange Matching of Orders

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1032+27529,00.html

 

Updated "Blackout Days" for Live Cattle Delivery Points

http://www.cme.com/clearing/clr/clradv/12790.html

 

Exchange Announces Position Limits, Accountability Levels, and Spot Month Margin Assessments for New Gasoil Futures Contract 

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/news/press_releas.jsp?id=pr20050407a

 

Exchange Files Application with Financial Services Authority in London

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/news/press_releas.jsp?id=pr20050407b

 

Exchange Files Application with Financial Services Authority in London

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/shareholder/notice_to_member.jsp?id=ntm157&archive=2005

 

Amendments to NYMEX Division Rule 11.63, Electronic Trading Error Trade Procedures Regarding Brent Crude Oil and Northwest Europe Gasoil Futures Contracts

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/shareholder/notice_to_member.jsp?id=ntm156&archive=2005

 

Amendments to NYMEX Division Rule 6.41, Trading Standards for Floor Brokers

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/shareholder/notice_to_member.jsp?id=ntm155&archive=2005

 

Notification of Amendments to NYMEX Division Rules 6.40B, 6.52, and new Rule 6.40D

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/shareholder/notice_to_member.jsp?id=ntm154&archive=2005

 

Matched Orders - Proposed Amendment to COMEX Rule 104.42(c)

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/shareholder/notice_to_member.jsp?id=ntm153&archive=2005

 

Spot Month Assessment for New NYMEX Northwest Europe Gasoil Futures Contract

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/shareholder/notice_to_member.jsp?id=ntm150&archive=2005

 

Clearstream Completes Q1 2005 with Further Business Growth

http://deutsche-boerse.com/dbag/dispatch/en/listcontent/gdb_navigation/press/10_Latest_Press_Releases/Content_Files/13_press/pm_news_clearstream_080405.htm

 

TSE imposes penalty on Aizawa Securities Co., Ltd.

http://www.tse.or.jp/english/news/2005/200504/050408_a.html

 

Disciplinary Actions

http://www.tse.or.jp/english/guide/compliance/action/index.html

 

FSA orders Credit Suisse Trust to suspend operations for 1 month

_ The Financial Services Agency said Friday it has ordered Credit Suisse Trust and Banking Co. to suspend part of its operations for a month, saying its improper business transactions totaling several thousands of cases caused damage to customers.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050408/kyodo/d89b7hb81.html

 

8th SGF Conference, 8 April 2005 - SWX Best Paper Award

The SWX Swiss Exchange today once again presented its SWX Best Paper Award at the annual conference of the Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, SGF. This year's award was won by the "Portfolio Performance, Discount Dynamics, and the Turnover of Closed-End Fund Managers" study compiled by Russ Wermers, Youchang Wu and Josef Zechner. The award ceremony took place at the SWX Swiss Exchange's ConventionPoint conference centre.

http://www.exchange-handbook.co.uk/news_story.cfm?id=52304

 

American Stock Exchange Elects Board Of Governors

http://www.exchange-handbook.co.uk/news_story.cfm?id=52302

 

Bolsa De Valores De Panama Executives Visit NYBOT

http://www.nybot.com/releases/pressRelease.asp?releaseID=862

 

Coffee Rebagging Statistics - April 8, 2005

http://www.nybot.com/releases/pressRelease.asp?releaseID=863

 

 

 

Regulatory News

 

The SEC News Digest

The SEC News Digest provides daily information on recent Commission actions, including enforcement proceedings, rule filings, policy statements, and upcoming Commission meetings.

http://www.sec.gov/news/digest/dig040705.txt

 

CFTC Weekly Advisory

http://www.cftc.gov/opa/adv05/opawa15-05.htm

 

SEC Obtains Court Order Against Maurice Greenberg, C.V. Starr and AIG To Protect Documents in Ongoing Investigation

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-52.htm

 

SEC Settles Charges Against Easylink Services Corporation and its Former CFO for Overstating Advertising Barter Revenue

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-51.htm

 

SEC Announces Panelists for April 13th Roundtable on Implementation of Internal Control Reporting Provisions

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-50.htm

 

SEC Issues Guidance Regarding Prohibited Conduct in Connection with IPO Allocations

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-49.htm

 

SEC Adopts Regulation NMS and Provisions Regarding Investment Advisers Act of 1940

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-48.htm

 

SEC issues notice about prohibited conduct by underwriters

Attempts to induce aftermarket purchases during restricted period are prohibited, SEC reminds industry

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28375&IdSection=8&cat=8

 

Securities groups pledge greater cross-border co-operation

IOSCO conference comes to end with “landmark decisions”

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28374&IdSection=8&cat=8

 

Final Communique of the XXXth Annual Conference of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)

TORONTO, April 7 /CNW/ - The world's securities and futures regulators as well as other members of the international financial community met in Colombo,

Sri Lanka, from 4 to 7 April 2005, on the occasion of the XXXth Annual Conference of the International Organization of Securities Commissions

(IOSCO).

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2005/07/c3371.html

 

Disclosure not enough, FSA says

Management of conflicts not the responsibility of the regulator

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28366&IdSection=8&cat=8

 

FSA fees update

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/PR/2005/036.shtml

 

Donaldson's former firm settles SEC charges 

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) - EasyLink Services Corp.and a former chief financial officer settled

http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8120026

 

SEC Wins Court Order Against AIG

SEC Wins Court Order Against AIG, Ousted CEO to Preserve Documents in Invesytigation

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=651067&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

 

UK’s Office Of Fair Trading: Anticipated Acquisition By Deutsche Borse AG Of London Stock Exchange Plc

http://www.exchange-handbook.co.uk/news_story.cfm?id=52287

 

A costly nightmare for corporations

Ask nearly any business executive to name the biggest menace facing corporate America, and the answer is apt to be a number: ''404.'' That refers to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires massive reporting by publicly held companies to prevent recurrences of WorldCom, Enron, Tyco and other scandals. For honest corporate officers, this is classic governmental over-regulation -- a dagger aimed at the heart of the U.S. economy.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak07.html

 

Managed Futures - Managed Funds

 

CFTC Roundtable: Streamlining the regulatory process

Apr-7-2005 - Commodity pool operators, sponsors and advisors registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission should not also have to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the CFTC's acting chairperson told a gathering of hedge fund luminaries during the commission's CPO and Commodity Pool Industry Roundtable in Washington DC on April 6.

http://www.marhedge.com/news/Cover.Hedge.asp?s=HedgeH-2005-04-07-11-37-12p1.htm

 

More fund consolidation coming: Holland

Many independents struggling, CI Fund CEO says

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28363&IdSection=1&cat=1

 

Former Catequil principal Touradji launches new fund

Apr-7-2005 - Paul Touradji, a former principal of now dissolved Catequil Asset Management LP, has resurfaced at the helm of a new $1 billion hedge fund

http://www.marhedge.com/news/Cover.Hedge.asp?s=HedgeH-2005-04-07-09-05-40p1.htm

 

Portus chief high-tails it

Apr-7-2005 - A co-founder of troubled Canadian hedge fund Portus Alternative Asset Management Inc left Canada just before a court-appointed receiver planned to interview him

http://www.marhedge.com/news/Cover.Hedge.asp?s=HedgeH-2005-04-07-11-28-41p1.htm

 

UBS to launch German fund of hedge funds

Apr-7-2005 - Frankfurt-based UBS Global Asset Management (Deutschland) GmbH will launch a Germany-domiciled fund of hedge funds in June

http://www.marhedge.com/news/Cover.Strat.asp?s=StratH-2005-04-07-11-50-13p1.htm

 

Global Commodities launches commodity futures fund

Apr-7-2005 - Global Commodities Ltd in Adelaide has launched the Enhanced Commodity Indexed Fund, which will invest in 21 global commodities using futures and swaps.  Energy, metals, grains and miscellaneous agricultural contracts will be covered. The long-only unleveraged strategies utilize a proprietary option-type formula to value the commodities relative to interest rates.  The fund is benchmarked against a 50% weighting to the Goldman Sachs Total Return Commodity Index and 50% to the Reuters/Commodity Research Bureau Total Return Commodity Index.

http://www.marhedge.com/news/Cover.MAR.asp?s=MARH-2005-04-07-10-04-44p1.htm

 

Hedge Funds Popular Among HK Investors

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--In most global markets, hedge funds are the investments of pension funds or the super rich. Not so in Hong Kong, where most of the growth has come from retail investors due to a regulatory environment that makes these high-risk investments less daunting.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050408/5/1z17y.html

 

Reports

 

Bond Talk Today's Events

http://www.bondtalk.com/global.cfm?S=todaysevents

 

USDA Today

http://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/TODAY.HTM

 

Miscellaneous News

 

Why China repeatedly sniped in the international futures market

In 2004, China imported a volume of copper that accounted for 20.6 percent of the total international trade, soybean 31.2, and cotton 26.1. During the same period, price in international commodity market fluctuated over a wide range, among which oil and copper price fluctuated by 37 and 39 percent, and the soybean, maize and cotton price fluctuated by 112, 76 and 70 percent respectively. Price of main products achieved a new high in recent 10 or even 20 years.  Chinese buyers, sniped by the international capital in almost each time of purchasing, often ended with buying the coiners, buying high selling low and suffering huge losses. During May and June in 2004, before the price of soybean futures fell in Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT), China had purchased more than four point five million tons of South America soybeans from high price areas. The loss had exceeded one thousand Yuan per ton when the ships had not yet arrived, and the loss per voyage was between twenty million and fifty million Yuan.

Why China repeatedly failed in international futures market? Experts reckon that the main reasons are the following three aspects:

http://en.ce.cn/Insight/200504/07/t20050407_3538320.shtml

 

CHINA PRESS: ICBC Given OK For Gold Derivatives Operation

SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC.YY), one of China's four largest lenders, has received regulatory approval to launch gold derivatives products, the state-owned China Securities Journal reports.

http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/050408/15/3rrta.html

 

FIA Salutes New York

To honor the 50th anniversary of its founding in New York in 1955, the FIA invites members to participate in a special gala event in New York on the evening of April 11. The event will be sponsored by Calyon Financial and will be held at the Metropolitan Club on One East 60th St. from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Jacket and tie are required. This event will be open to FIA members only. The deadline for registration is April 7. Please RSVP to FIAnniversary@futuresindustry.org. 

http://www.futuresindustry.org/jointhec-2473.asp

 

***** Deadline was yesterday?  I know electronic trading has made everything faster, but this is ridiculous.

 

Former Morgan Stanley exec lands at CSFB

Vikram Gandhi to head firm’s Global Financial Institutions Group

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28378&IdSection=5&cat=5

 

Widened China forex trading to begin May 18

SHANGHAI, April 8 (Reuters) - China is to allow wider foreign exchange trading from May 18 and named seven foreign banks among the nine market makers for the new system, seen as a prototype for more flexible yuan dealing and a step towards a free market.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050408/3/1z1jb.html

 

Morgan Stanley Row Raises Questions Over Future

http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=3KBIANWIHAN34CRBAEOCFEY?type=reutersEdge&storyID=8118249

 

Markets Get Realistic on China's Forex Policy

http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=3KBIANWIHAN34CRBAEOCFEY?type=reutersEdge&storyID=8117979

 

LaBranche Sees Disappointing Results

http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=8127904

 

Citigroup's Regulatory Woes Continue

Pressure is on to step up the firm's compliance efforts and improve ethics training throughout the company.

http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/04/08/cz_0408oxan_citi.html?partner=rss

 

Cracking The Street's New Math

Algorithmic trades are sweeping the stock market. But how secure are they?

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_16/b3929113_mz020.htm?campaign_id=rss_magzn

 

Refco has 9.8 pct of Easyscreen

LONDON (AFX) - Easyscreen PLC, which has agreed a 14.8 mln stg takeover by Refco Group Ltd, said investors controlling 9.82 pct of the shares have signed irrevocable undertakings to accept the bid.

http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=5260730&subject=companies&action=article

 

Schwab Institutional Announces 2005 Advisory Board Members

Schwab Institutional, a leading provider of custodial, operational and trading support for independent fee-based investment advisors, today announced the members of its 2005 Advisory Board.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050407/sfth054.html?.v=5

 

The Goldman Sachs Foundation Announces $1.7 Million in Grants to Education Programs

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Apr 7, 2005--The Goldman Sachs Foundation today announced $1.7 million in grants to outstanding educational organizations to support innovative youth development, business education, and teacher development programs.

http://www.cpwire.com/archive/2005/4/7/1810.asp

 

HedgeStreet Enhances Online Trading

HedgeStreet Inc., the nation's first financial market that lets online investors trade innovative financial instruments based on economic events, announced today a series of enhancements that provide an even richer trading experience for its members at www.hedgestreet.com.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050407/75037.html?.v=1

 

Australia's Trader Dealer Launches New Online Broking Service

SYDNEY, April 8 Asia Pulse - A new online broking service has been launched today, to take on rivals CommSec and E-Trade, targeting the "serious investor market".

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050408/4/1z1bp.html

 

Other Voices

 

Today’s Other Voices contribution is from CBOT member Carl Zapffe, giving his nomination for the Forgotten Fifty.  Here is Carl’s nomination:

 

Following the example of John Gilmore with his generous listing of many notable members that he considers to be worthy of being nominated to the FIA Hall of Fame, I invite all of you to forward your own nominations to Trade-Talk of someone who you think is more worthy of this honor than the many industry flacks, bozos, and bureaucrats who constitute the original 55 inductees.

 

My nominee would be my fellow CBOT member, soybean trader, and friend, Peter Steidelmayer.

 

As many of you know, Pete has developed many original ideas over the years, chief among them the Market Profile, which is now almost universally used to analyze all markets, not just our own. He has followed the development of that market tool with others. He also developed the concept of the "X-Funds," which, while they didn't succeed, show the creativeness of his considerable intellect. Pete has always been about two or three steps ahead of the rest of us.

 

More to his credit, however, is that rather than maintaining this system for his own use, having it copyrighted, and then licensing it out to make millions, Pete GAVE his license to the CBOT GRATIS. The CBOT now reaps substantial sums of money for licensing this valuable trading tool to others.

 

Pete is a class act. More credit to him.

 

Very respectfully submitted,

 

Carl Zapffe

cmzapffe@comcast.net

 

John's Comments

 

FOWeek Headlines   Issue 1014  11-Apr-2005

 

• FCMs demand Eurex clearing revisions

• Nymex London application with regulator

• Time called on IPE floor

• CFTC round table verdict: ‘hedge funds not guilty’

• CME on European fx options trip

• Competition or merger on the cards for Canadian exchanges http://www.fow.com/articles/foweek_article.asp?storyCode=3154

• Nymex lures Brent traders with cash and equity deal

• Report backs Eurex growth in 2005

• China closer to equity index futures

• Indian food grains on NCDEx

 

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Appliederivatives.com - APRIL 2005

 

EDITORIAL -  A Job Well Done

http://www.appliederivatives.com/content/content.cfm?ID=BFBD25D6-3C15-4074-BEDD06FE01DE9168&SectionID=0481001E-3EA5-4ADE-B5E8B77949BD7E8E&IssueID=46487638-ADE8-45C9-966CA2B84885530E

 

BELL CURVE TRADING -  US Yield Curve Outlook

http://www.appliederivatives.com/content/content.cfm?ID=02BC42E0-CE71-437E-91D088835AFC37E8&SectionID=6B739381-AB18-4150-AC9526C13BCC1524&IssueID=46487638-ADE8-45C9-966CA2B84885530E

 

FEATURES -  The End of Luxury

http://www.appliederivatives.com/content/content.cfm?ID=36E101B6-E077-42CA-BCDEE5396A0D1379&SectionID=60DFBEE4-28C0-45D0-96EE8E5C548AEE80&IssueID=46487638-ADE8-45C9-966CA2B84885530E

 

REARVIEW - Toys R Us?

http://www.appliederivatives.com/content/content.cfm?ID=840A8FC4-E815-41CB-976E49EE232F7444&SectionID=C802B028-623E-4B60-8F1121EFC3AE48F6&IssueID=46487638-ADE8-45C9-966CA2B84885530E

 

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Brent Crude Watch

 

IPE Pit Brent Volume: 69,654

IPE Electronic Brent Volume: 39,493

IPE Electronic Brent Percentage: 36.33%

 

NYMEX Brent Crude Volume: 5902

 

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Chicago Electronic Trading Scorecard for April 7, 2005

 

Percent Electronic

 

CBOT: 65.43%

CME: 73.76%

CME Eurodollars: 81.19%

CME Live Cattle: 1.80%

CME Currency Products: 83.30%

CBOT Soybeans: 2.70%

 

CBOT Options: 2.62%

CME Options: 6.26%

 

Volume 

 

OneChicago Volume: 1680

Eurex US Volume: 13,934

Euronext.liffe Eurodollar Volume: 49,204

CBOE Futures Exchange Volume: 1084

 

Market Share

 

CBOT 100 oz. Gold Volume: 760

NYMEX 100 oz. Gold Volume: 32,236

CBOT Share: 2.30%

NYMEX Share: 97.70%

 

CBOT 5000 oz. Silver Volume: 133

NYMEX 5000 oz. Silver Volume: 10,859

CBOT Share: 1.21%

NYMEX Share: 98.79%

 

CBOT Mini Gold Volume: 819

CBOT Mini Silver Volume: 370

 

CME Emini Russell 1000 (100X) Volume: 4901

Eurex US Mini Russell 1000 (100X) Volume: 4013

NYBOT Mini Russell 1000 (50X) Volume: 145

CFE Mini Russell 1000 (100X) Volume: 0

 

CME Emini Russell 2000 Volume: 94,237

Eurex US Mini Russell 2000 Volume: 5319

CFE Mini Russell 2000 Volume: 492

 

Notes: From Euronext.liffe: Beginning on June 27th, 2005, trading hours for Euronext.liffe's benchmark Three Month Euribor Futures contract will be 7:00 am to 9:00 pm London time (2:00 am to 4:00 pm EST), extending the close by three hours.  

 

The extension of trading hours for Euribor futures reflects the contract's prominence as one of few truly global trading and risk management products and addresses widespread demand by US customers for the opportunity to transact the contract across the entire US trading day.  Extending the trading hours for Euribor futures until

4:00 pm EST increases its global coverage and brings it in line with Euronext.liffe’s increasingly liquid Eurodollar futures contract. Please General Notice 2637 for additional details.

 

For information, please contact Euronext.liffe: Marco Bianchi/Lynn Martin 212-482-3000, James Johanik/Nancy Kaplan 312-553-4813

us.office@liffe.com

 

Liffe Eurodollar Over-Under

 

Liffe/Globex: 2.82%

Liffe/CME: 1.30%

 

Regards,

 

John J. Lothian

Publisher

John Lothian Newsletter 

www.johnlothiannewsletter.com

 

Futures Brokerage - Business Intelligence   John J. Lothian President- Electronic Trading Division The Price Futures Group, Inc. 141 West Jackson Blvd., Suite 1340A Chicago, IL 60604 jlothian@pricegroup.com