May 6, 2005

 

Lead Stories

 

Market mergers pressure Amex

With Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange making deals, Amex must look at M&A options now, not later.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/thedeal/20050505/bs_deal_thedeal/marketmergerspressureamex

 

This Week’s Trading Gossip

Trader Monthly/Trader Daily

Every day, Trader Monthly magazine surveys the trading landscape for the inside dirt – who’s killing the market, who’s begging for mercy, who’s under investigation and who’s shaking up the industry. Essential gossip for traders.   See story below.

 

EX-TRADER’S PULITZER SURPRISE

After years trading oil in New York and Singapore, Nigel Jaquiss achieved enough success to pursue his low-money, high-enjoyment dream of being a journalist. Now Jaquiss has attained every journalist’s dream --- winning a Pulitzer Prize. The former arbitrageur called the recently bestowed honor “enormously surprising and tremendously gratifying”.  Jaquiss, a 42-year-old reporter for The Willamette Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Oregon, won the prize for investigative reporting in a series of articles exposing former Oregon governor Neil Goldschmidt's sexual abuse of a teenage girl in the 1970s and the subsequent cover up.  A native of New Harmony, Indiana (population 900), Jaquiss worked on a farm growing up before leaving for Dartmouth, where he majored in English. Toward the end of his senior year, Jaquiss stumbled on to a trader trainee position with agriculture-supply powerhouse Cargill. “Trading grain seemed less exciting than oil or metals,” he recalls. “I was just fortunate to get assigned to the oil desk."

http://biz.yahoo.com/weekend/insider507_1.html

 

London Oil Exchange Thwarts Nymex Expansion With Online Trading

May 6 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Mercantile Exchange's plan to grab business from the London International Petroleum Exchange is faltering as oil traders including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. shift to electronic trading.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aSr1WkykxG04&refer=uk

 

Future of Archipelago boss hangs on judge's ruling

BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter

Since announcing the deal last month to merge his Archipelago Holdings with the New York Stock Exchange, Gerald Putnam has been busy selling it to Wall Street.

At the same time, he's sweating out a judge's decision in a Cook County lawsuit that's unlikely to affect the merger itself, but could decide Putnam's future with the NYSE. It also could cost him millions of dollars.  Putnam, chief executive of Archipelago, stands to become a co-president of the NYSE if the deal closes. But he also stands accused of cheating a former business partner out of a stake in a brokerage in the mid-1990s that evolved into Archipelago, an electronic exchange with a current market value of $1.6 billion.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-putnam06.html

 

Putnam Addresses Trading Community

May 5, 2005 - The NYSE's hybrid trading model and Arca's electronic platform will both be preserved when the merger is done, leaving it up to investors to decide how...

http://www.securitiesindustry.com/article.cfm?articleid=15452

 

TSX wants increased pressure for freer trade in financial services

CEO Nesbitt also warns of growing competition from Europe

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28720&IdSection=15&cat=15

 

Bond could be bad news

Possible reintroduction of 30-year bond by U.S. Treasury may herald higher interest rates

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28707&IdSection=2&cat=2

 

Last of Amex targets quits

American Stock Exchange general counsel Michael Ryan will leave the firm, becoming the last of four Amex employees to quit or be replaced after being named as subjects of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzfill4246923may06,0,1386463.story?coll=ny-business-headlines

 

Environmental Trading News

 

Irish biodigester firm to float on London stock exchange

AgCert International, a Dublin based company trading in greenhouse gas credits, has announced plans to list on the London Stock Exchange in June. Ordinary shares will be placed with institutional investors in the UK and continental Europe.

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=9887&channel=0

 

Exchange News

 

Photos of TAC April 28 Meeting Now Available 

http://www.cftc.gov/ac/actacphotos042805.htm

 

Transcript From CFTC Roundtable Now Available 

http://www.cftc.gov/cftc/cftcroundtables.htm

 

Chicago Merc to list futures based on three ETFs

http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.asp?journalid=27424297&brk=1

 

CBOT Industry Meeting: South American Soybean Futures, 4/21/05

presentation includes a comprehensive explanation of the contract specifications, cash market background, and the delivery process of the South American Soybean futures contract.

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1027+28060,00.html

 

Corn Plantings Jump Sharply, but W. Wheat Ratings Drop

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1027+28058,00.html

 

Feb Ethanol Pace Strong but Expansion Slows till Fall '05

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1027+28054,00.html

 

CBOT Strike Price Notice, May 06, 2005

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1032+28062,00.html

 

CBOT Trading Position Change Notice , US Bonds, May 31, 2005

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1032+28061,00.html

 

CME Announces Memorial Day Holiday Hours

http://www.cme.com/about/press/cn/05-66MemorialDayHours13115.html

 

HRW Wheat Crop Tour Results In

2005 hard red winter wheat tour estimate for Kansas at 46.2 bushels per acre

http://www.kcbt.com/news_2.asp?id=272&home=1

 

Exchange Sets Record for e-miNYsm Crude Oil Futures and Total e-miNYsm Futures Volume

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/news/press_releas.jsp?id=pr20050505a

 

NYSE Seat Sells for $2,400,000

http://www.nyse.com/press/1115375849001.html

 

Program Trading Averaged 57.0 Percent of NYSE Volume during Apr. 25-29

http://www.nyse.com/press/1115289367841.html

 

China firms still eyeing SGX listing despite new rules: IPO managers

SINGAPORE : There continues to be a long list of Chinese companies wanting to list on the Singapore Exchange, despite new rules announced by Beijing on overseas listings.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/146282/1/.html

 

MidCap SPDRs 10th Anniversary May 4, 2005

http://www.midcapspdr.com/

 

Seven New Members Join MEFF In 2005

http://www.exchange-handbook.co.uk/news_story.cfm?id=52784

 

Tokyo Commodity Exchange Changes Delivery Method Of Oil Product Contracts

http://www.exchange-handbook.co.uk/news_story.cfm?id=52775

 

CHICAGO MERCANTILE EXCHANGE HOLDINGS INC Files SEC form 10-Q, Quarterly Report

http://biz.yahoo.com/e/050505/cme10-q.html

 

CME - Derivatives Trading Risk .

GFX engages primarily in the purchase and sale of our foreign exchange futures contracts on CME Globex to provide additional liquidity in these products and subsequently enters into offsetting transactions using futures contracts or spot foreign exchange transactions with approved counterparties in the interbank market to limit market risk. Any potential impact on the earnings of GFX from a change in foreign exchange rates would not be significant. GFX also engaged in purchases and sales of CME Eurodollar futures contracts on CME Globex during the first six months of 2004. At the end of the second quarter of 2004, it was determined that GFX’s participation in electronic trading of CME Eurodollars was no longer necessary for liquidity purposes. Net position limits are established for each trader and totaled $12.0 million in aggregate notional value as of March 31, 2005.  At March 31, 2005, GFX held futures positions with a notional value of $96.5 million, offset by a similar amount of spot foreign exchange positions. The notional value of futures positions at March 31, 2004 totaled $99.0 million. All positions are marked to market on a daily basis, with the resulting charge or credit reflected in other revenue. Net trading gains were $2.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2005 and $2.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2004.

http://eol.edgar-online.com/edgar_conv_html/2005/05/05/0001193125-05-097630.html#D10Q_HTM_TOC

 

***** GSX stopped trading Eurodollars in 2004.  Last report the CME reported GFX was trading stock index futures too.  Where is this mentioned this time?  Did they stop?

 

Craig Donohue Speaks to the Executives' Club of Chicago

http://www.cme.com/about/press/cn/05-67CSDExecutivesClubSpeech13129.html

 

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/dig050505.txt

 

CFTC Weekly Advisory

http://www.cftc.gov/opa/adv05/opawa19-05.htm

 

Greenspan opposes hedge fund regulation

US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan rejected US government regulation of hedge funds, while acknowledging high-risk investment strategies can destabilise the financial system.  In a speech delivered via satellite to a banking conference in the US city of Chicago, the central banker said the growth of sophisticated derivative products was generally welcome as they made the banking system more resilient to shocks.

http://afr.com/articles/2005/05/06/1115092658178.html

 

Hedge funds get Greenspan warning on leverage

BOSTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The hedge fund industry, which often relies on borrowed money, received a pointed warning from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Thursday to play responsibly to help protect market liquidity.

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=bondsNews&storyID=8404669

 

Greenspan sees GSE portfolio risk for swaps market

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday the huge mortgage holdings of home finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) pose risks to the liquidity of the derivatives market, where companies hedge interest rates.

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=bondsNews&storyID=8400879

 

SEC Approves Amendments to IM-10104 and Rule 10315 to Permit Arbitrations in Foreign Hearing Locations; Effective June 6, 2005

http://www.nasd.com/web/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=5&ssSourceNodeId=5

 

Oppenheimer & Co. facing multiple trading charges

NASD says former Fahnestock & Co. failed to report more than 6,100 municipal bond transactions

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28722&IdSection=8&cat=8

 

BROKER IMPEDED PROBE

May 6, 2005 -- The NASD accused brokerage firm Oppenheimer & Co. in a complaint of failing to provide accurate and timely records of more than 6,000 municipal securities transactions.

http://www.nypost.com/business/43490.htm

 

FSA reports on security risks of outsourcing to India

The UK s Financial Services Authority (FSA) has delivered a mixed report on the security of outsourcing to India, finding that risk management and governance frameworks are fine but that there are risks in terms of financial crime prevention and consumer protection.

http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=fsareportsonsecur1115370602&area=news

 

Report: Ex-AIG Chief Target of Stock Probe

Report: Prosecutors Probing if Ex-AIG Chief Headed Effort to Manipulate Company Stock Price

NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Maurice R. Greenberg headed an effort to manipulate the stock price of American International Group Inc. in his final weeks as chief executive of one of the world's largest insurance companies, the New York Times reported in Friday's editions.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050506/aig_probe_greenberg.html?.v=4

 

Managed Futures - Managed Funds

 

Hedge fund chief complains of short-selling

A founding partner of a London-based hedge fund that has seen its assets shrink by at least a quarter has blamed speculators and short-sellers for his company's difficulties.  Jonathan Bailey, a founding partner of Bailey Coates asset management, a long-short equity fund, on Thursday said other hedge funds and the proprietary trading desks of investment banks had attacked his company's portfolio on rumours of redemptions from the fund.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4ff56dd6-bd83-11d9-87aa-00000e2511c8.html

 

**** Online FT subscription required.

 

Maturing Hedge Fund Industry Must Come to Grips With New Challenges, Advises SEI Investments

Hedge funds are rapidly becoming mainstream, but their growing acceptance brings formidable challenges along with great opportunity, said industry experts addressing The 2005 SEI Investments Executive Conference: Developing Competitive Strategies.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050506/phf008.html?.v=9

 

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

 

TradeWeb to launch online market for credit derivatives

Online fixed-income trading network Thomson TradeWeb is joining liquidity providers JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to launch an electronic trading platform for credit default swap indices.

http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=56D43D21-0FF9-449B-94D9-03D261AE512A

 

Morgan Stanley Hit With Class Action Alleging Discovery Improprieties

A new class action lawsuit in Florida alleges that financial services giant Morgan Stanley committed violations of discovery rules in as many as 1,000 securities arbitration cases across the country by failing to provide access to all relevant data and communications for resolution of the disputes.

http://biz.yahoo.com/law/050506/1b4417545cdf0b6704142abf25580262.html?.v=1

 

Other Voices

 

Dear Golfer,

 

CPS, Inc. would like to extend an invitation to our Inaugural Charity Golf Event on July 7th, 2005 at Carriage Greens Country Club. Carriage Greens C.C is located in Darien, IL just off of I-55 and Cass Avenue. The event will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  Make-A-Wish is a charity that grants wishes to children with life threatening illnesses.  For more information on Make-A-Wish, please visit www.wishes.org

 

In addition to a fun filled day on the golf course, we will be providing lunch, drinks, prizes, raffles, as well as several contests which include:

 

-Hole in One Contest (prizes include: trips to Hawaii, Bahamas, Golf Clubs and more)

-Longest Drive Contest (Cash Prize)

-Closest to the Pin Contest (Cash Prize)

 

The donation for The CPS, Inc. Charity Event supporting Make-A-Wish is only $100.00.  The event will begin with a 9:00 am shotgun start and registration from 8:00 am to 8:40.

 

This is a great opportunity to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation and enjoy a great afternoon of golf.  If you wish to attend the event or make a donation, please go to www.cps4jobs.com

 

Please respond by July 1st, 2005 to:

 

CPS, Inc.

c/o Jeff Williams

One Westbrook Center ste.600

Westchester IL 60154

 

jeff@cpsit.com

www.cps4jobs.com

 

Thank you for your support!

 

John's Comments

 

FOWeek Headlines   Issue 1018  09-May-2005

 

• Nymex to welcome in Blackstone, launch IPO

• TT extends Refco deadline

• Court compels TT, Espeed to produce documents http://www.fow.com/articles/foweek_article.asp?storyCode=3274

• GL Trade posts Q1 results, promises dividend

• CBoT boosted by 30-year bonds

• Ffastfill refinances for “long-term” contracts

• HK futures brokerage latest to look to China

• Indian sugar not so sweet

• Korean brokers’ profits up despite flat commissions

• Nymex targets emissions market share increase

 

http://www.fow.com/

 

*******

 

Brent Crude Watch

 

IPE Brent Volume: 115,367

NYMEX Brent Crude Volume: 4588

NYMEX Percent of Total Volume: 3.82%

 

********

 

Chicago Electronic Trading Scorecard for May 5, 2005

 

Percent Electronic

 

CBOT: 68.68%

CME: 72.33%

CME Eurodollars: 83.50%

CME Live Cattle: .85%

CME Currency Products: 85.85%

CBOT Soybeans: 1.81%

 

CBOT Options: 5.67%

CME Options: 4.54%

 

Volume 

 

OneChicago Volume: 2361

Eurex US Volume: 8271

Euronext.liffe Eurodollar Volume: 36,734

CBOE Futures Exchange Volume: 1518

 

Market Share

 

CBOT 100 oz. Gold Volume: 791

NYMEX 100 oz. Gold Volume: 37,173

CBOT Share: 2.08%

 

CBOT 5000 oz. Silver Volume: 232

NYMEX 5000 oz. Silver Volume: 23,035

CBOT Share: 1.00%

 

CBOT Mini Gold Volume: 724

CBOT Mini Silver Volume: 547

 

CME Emini Russell 1000 (100X) Volume: 4079

Eurex US Mini Russell 1000 (100X) Volume: 2214

NYBOT Mini Russell 1000 (50X) Volume: 942

CFE Mini Russell 1000 (100X) Volume: 0

 

CME Emini Russell 2000 Volume: 143,894

Eurex US Mini Russell 2000 Volume: 4874

CFE Mini Russell 2000 Volume: 788

 

Notes:

 

Liffe Eurodollar Over-Under

 

Liffe/Globex: 1.81%

Liffe/CME: 1.54%

 

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 johnlothian@johnlothian.com IM: LothianJohnJ http://www.pricegroupetd.com tel: tel2: fax: mobile: +1 312-264-4350 +1 800-713-0215 +1 312-264-4399 +1 312-203-5515

Add me to your address book... Want a signature like this?

 

 

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