May 9, 2005

 

Lead Stories

 

Deutsche Boerse's Seifert Quits After LSE Bid Failure (Update1)

U.K. May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Werner Seifert stepped down as chief executive of Deutsche Boerse AG, Europe's largest stock exchange by market value, after shareholders protested his failed attempt to buy London Stock Exchange Plc.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aSiOE3wWikqQ

 

Deutsche Boerse CEO Seifert ousted

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Werner Seifert has been ousted as CEO of Deutsche Boerse, the German stock exchange operator that faced heavy shareholder opposition from its bid to buy the London Stock Exchange.

http://www.sharewatch.com/story.php?storynumber=71873

 

Werner Seifert quits Deutsche Börse

The chief executive and non-executive chairman of Deutsche Börse have resigned after a bruising five-month battle with shareholders over the strategic direction of the world’s largest listed stock exchange.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c4816d0c-c095-11d9-a3da-00000e2511c8.html

 

***** Online FT subscription required.

 

Deutsche Börse AG: Changes To The Boards Of Deutsche Börse AG - Chairman Breuer, Further Members Of The Supervisory Board And CEO Werner Seifert To Leave Deutsche Börse

http://www.exchange-handbook.co.uk/news_story.cfm?id=52799

 

U.S. exchanges confront changing world

NEW YORK (Reuters) - No sooner had the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission approved contentious proposals in April that altered how stocks are traded

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=electionsNews&storyID=8425876

 

Pat Arbor: 'Why I favor CBOT-Merc merger'

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-cbot09.html

 

***** This misbegotten letter to the editor shall not go unanswered.  Stay tuned. 

 

DOJ: Exchange size doesn't matter

Size will not be an issue when the     Department of Justice reviews the recently proposed mergers involving New York Stock Exchange Inc. and Nasdaq Stock Market Inc., the head of the department's antitrust division said on Friday, May 6.  R. Hewitt Pate, assistant attorney general at the division, told an investors' conference in Washington on Friday that his office would be working with the     Securities and Exchange Commission to determine whether the New York Stock Exchange's proposed acquisition of Archipelago Holdings Inc. and Nasdaq's purchase of Instinet Group Inc. threaten to hinder competition in the industry.  "The SEC will be conducting a simultaneous review," Pate said. While Pate could not say what issues the review will consider, he did say that "bigness" will not be one of them. "The debate about whether big is bad is over," he said. "It's not anywhere in our merger review process. We're concerned about concentration: If there are few competitors, we're afraid of coordinated activity."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/thedeal/20050509/bs_deal_thedeal/dojexchangesizedoesntmatter

 

Wall Street Awash With Money

NEW YORK - Wall Street may never be the same again. And the reason, ironically, is that it's suddenly awash with, of all things, money. While the so-called "bulge bracket firms" duke it out for bragging rights among the ranks of dealmakers, managers of alternative investment funds are more often stealing the headlines.

Money is pouring into hedge funds and private equity firms as pension managers and other institutions chase higher-yielding investments. Investment banks, eager for a piece of the pie, are lining up with financing packages, vying to advise on deals, building businesses to better accommodate fund clients or even investing in the ventures for themselves.

http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/05/09/cx_lm_0509funds.html

 

Fears of hedge-fund meltdown prompt FSA to launch probe

John Tiner, the chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, has launched a wide-ranging investigation into the workings of hedge funds in London which is expected to lead to a massive shake-up in the way they are regulated.

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=636505

 

Hedge funds may be not so ‘alternative’

Hedge funds often trumpet their ability to deliver alpha risk-adjusted outperformance. But a vital part of their appeal to investors is that they can provide a diversified return when traditional asset classes such as equities and bonds are only expected to perform modestly. This raises the question of how hedge funds get their returns.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/aa6c001a-be5d-11d9-9473-00000e2511c8.html

 

Nymex shouts fall on deaf ears in Brent crude futures market

PLANS by the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) to grab more trade in Brent crude oil contracts seem to be faltering, according to analysts.

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=500522005

 

Suit Filed to Block NYSE-Archipelago Merger

A seat holder on the New York Stock Exchange filed suit Monday to block the merger between the NYSE and all-electronic stock market Archipelago Holdings Inc., claiming a breach of fiduciary responsibility.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050509/ap_on_bi_ge/nyse_archipelago_3

 

Clearstream Reports Further Growth During April 2005

http://deutsche-boerse.com/dbag/dispatch/en/listcontent/gdb_navigation/press/10_Latest_Press_Releases/Content_Files/13_press/pm_news_clearstream_090505.htm

 

CBOT Signs Memorandum of Understanding with Shanghai Futures Exchange

The CBOT announced that the Exchange has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Shanghai Futures Exchange.

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1036+28082,00.html

 

American Stock Exchange regulator to leave - memo 

NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - A top regulatory officer of the American Stock Exchange will leave at the end of May, according to a staff memorandum. He is third senior executive this week to depart ... 

http://www.reuters.com/newsSearchResultsHome.jhtml?query=barrentine&qtype=a

 

NYSE plans takeover protection 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange plans to establish provisions to thwart any potential hostile takeover once its merger with electronic market Archipelago Holdings Inc. is completed, 

http://www.reuters.com/newsSearchResultsHome.jhtml?query=thain&qtype=a

 

Thain: ETFs helped drive Archipelago deal 

By Mark McSherry NEW YORK (Reuters) - The rapid growth of exchange traded funds (ETFs) was one of the drivers of the New York Stock Exchange's deal to acquire electronic market Archipelago Holdings 

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8428913

 

NYSE's CEO sees value in floor traders 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer John Thain insisted on Monday that the Big Board's trading floor still has value, despite efforts to increase the exchange's 

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8428679

 

Thain sees few antitrust snags in NYSE deal 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New York Stock Exchange Chief Executive John Thain said on Monday there is little market overlap between the NYSE and Archipelago Holdings Inc.and 

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8428313

 

ISE's Krell sees growth in options 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The head of International Securities Exchange Inc., the largest U.S. equity options market, on Monday said increased demand for options should hold off a wave of consolidation

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8429031

 

Environmental Trading News

 

GE to Double Spending on `Environmental' Products (Update1)

U.S. May 9 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co., the world's largest company by market value, is betting that being environmentally friendly is good for business.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a8Hhkt4zffus

 

The ozone mafia By Arne Jernelov

Now that the Kyoto Protocol has been ratified, with even Russia belatedly signing on, a threat is emerging against an earlier landmark in international environmental protection the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol for defending the stratospheric ozone layer.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_9-5-2005_pg6_11

 

Turn up the heat now, or force generations to pay later

In 1983, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a report titled "Can We Delay a Greenhouse Warming?" The answer then was that some warming was probably inevitable. The only question was how much and how fast. Today, there is no longer any doubt that the Earth's climate is changing.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/otherviews/cst-edt-ref06.html

 

CCX Carbon Market Report

http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/news/newsletters/CCX_carbonmkt%20report_april05.pdf

 

Credits at crossroads

Opinions are divided about Hungary’s prospects as a center for the emerging international trade in greenhouse gas emission credi

Changes to Hungary’s tax code intended to help make the country a center for the growing trade in greenhouse gas emission credits may be enough to tempt emission trading companies to set up shop in Hungary, some industry players say.

http://www.bbj.hu/?module=displaystory&story_id=247251&format=html

 

Exchange News

 

CBOT Strike Price Notice, May 09, 2005

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1032+28076,00.html

 

Agricultural Option Exercises and Expirations

The deadline for exercise, and for automatic exercise cancellation, of June 2005 Corn, Oat, Rice, Soybean, Soybean Meal, Soybean Oil and Wheat futures options is 6:00 p.m. Friday, May 20, 2005. 05.09.2005

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1032+28078,00.html

 

Financial Option Exercises and Expirations

The deadline for exercise, and for automatic exercise cancellation, of June 2005 U.S, Treasur Bond and Treasury Note futures options is 6:00 p.m. Friday, May 20, 2005.

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1032+28077,00.html

 

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. Board Re-Elects Officers

http://www.cme.com/about/press/cn/05-68OfficerElection13134.html

 

CME's Donohue says market trends favor derivatives

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=8412884

 

CME Establishes Single-Day CME Eurodollar Interest Rate Volume Records

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050509/cgm026.html?.v=10

 

APS, CME EFP and CME SLEDS Testing

http://www.cme.com/clearing/clr/clradv/13137.html

 

New CME Exchange Traded Funds Futures Contracts 

http://www.cme.com/clearing/clr/npadv/13127.html

 

CBOT South American Soybean Futures 

http://www.cme.com/clearing/clr/npadv/13123.html

 

Exchange Changes Position Limits For Crude Oil Contracts

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/news/press_releas.jsp?id=pr20050506a

 

Successful first trading day of Galapagos on Euronext

http://www.euronext.com/news/press_releases/0,4159,1732_8275,00.html

 

NYSE Hosts Interactive "Webinar" on Investing in Latin America

CEOs from four leading NYSE-listed Latin American companies discuss how their companies are positioned for growth. Listen to live webcast at 4:45 p.m. ET.

http://www.nyse.com/events/1115289366449.html

 

New American style French Individual Equity Options (100 share contracts)*

From 20 June 2005 Euronext.liffe will introduce new American style exercise French Individual Equity Options (“IEOs”) with an underlying contract size of 100 shares. * Introduction of the new contracts is subject to formal approval by the AMF.

http://www.euronext.com/file/view/0,4245,1626_53424_581457872,00.pdf

 

Rollover of Leading Contract Month [May 9,2005]

http://www.tfx.co.jp/en/newsfile/05/200606chushingiri_e.html

 

PHLX Signs Agreement with S&P to Launch Trading on Options on Select Sector SPDRs and Global iShares Exchange Traded Funds

http://www.phlx.com/news/pr2005/05pr050905.htm

 

OMX Technology To Transfer Development Operations From Helsinki To Stockholm

http://www.exchange-handbook.co.uk/news_story.cfm?id=52792

 

 

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/dig050605.txt

 

Member Advisory - Common Registration Deficiencies

http://www.nfa.futures.org/compliance/050605.asp

 

DCIO Amends Interpretation No. 10 Re: Third Party Custodial Accounts 

http://www.cftc.gov/files/tm/tmint-10-1.pdf

 

New Electronic Reporting Requirements for Large Options Positions Reports for Filing of Reportable Conventional Options Positions: Effective Date Extended to July 11, 2005

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

 

IDA fines former Edward Jones rep $30,000

Imposes 12 months close supervision

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28739&IdSection=5&cat=5

 

Securities group advocates study of trading regulations

ICSA also endorses anti-money laundering provisions, and pledges support for campaign against terrorism

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28740&IdSection=8&cat=8

 

B.C. man admits to committing fraud and misrepresentation

http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.asp?id=2399

 

Citigroup may settle with UK over bond trades - report

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Citigroup may be seeking to settle an investigation with U.K.'s Financial Services Authority over claims that it manipulated the European bond market in 2004, according to a published report Sunday.

http://www.sharewatch.com/story.php?storynumber=71868

 

NASD To Recommend Disciplinary Actions Vs. AG Edwards

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A.G. Edwards Inc. (AGE) said Monday that the National Association of Securities Dealers Inc. has recommended disciplinary actions against the company relating to various mutual fund transactions.

http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?cat=USMARKET&src=704&feed=dji&section=news&news_id=dji-00033220050509&date=20050509&alias=/alias/money/cm/nw

 

SunTrust Capital Markets Fined $100,000 for Failing to Register Research Analysts Under New Rules

NASD announced today that it has censured and fined SunTrust Capital Markets, Inc. -- the Atlanta, GA-based bank-affiliated broker-dealer and investment bank -- $100,000 for failing to register its 48 research analysts under new NASD rules that took effect last year.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050509/dcm023.html?.v=9

 

Managed Futures - Managed Funds

 

Fight for the prize

State Street executive sees change, opportunity in ETFs

BOSTON (MarketWatch) - As exchange-traded funds become more popular, the competition for customers is getting fiercer.  Barclays Global Investors, part of British banking company Barclays PLC (BCS: news, chart, profile) , has muscled into the ETF business. The San Francisco-based f irm now dominates more than half of the $230 billion ETF market.  But rival State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has big plans of its own.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BD0D5DDF9-8804-4A4E-A598-F3D9E381538A%7D&siteid=google

 

Norshield to sell investment management business

Aragon Investments to acquire Norshield Asset Management

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28737&IdSection=5&cat=5

 

S&P hedge fund index slips

Increased investor concern over financing conditions cited

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28727&IdSection=137&cat=137

 

Dodge stresses need to improve financial system

Notes benefits of adopting Uniform Securities Transfer Act

http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?Id=28725&IdSection=16&cat=16

 

Norshield freezes assets

May-9-2005 - Norshield Financial Group suspended redemptions from its core hedge fund product last week...Read More

http://www.marhedge.com/news/Cover.Strat.asp?s=StratH-2005-05-05-12-05-36p1.htm

 

Man Group Deeply Undervalued -Merrill Lynch

0844 GMT [Dow Jones] Merrill Lynch says Man Group (EMG.LN) is "unloved" but "deeply undervalued." Argues markets misplacing attention on AHL, its managed futures manager fund. Says statistical relationship between the two is "very poor."

http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_814580.html

 

S'pore institutions seen warming to hedge funds

SINGAPORE, May 9 (Reuters) - Small and mid-sized Singaporean institutions have begun investing in global hedge funds and could accelerate such investments in the next few years, an industry official said on Monday.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/050509/3/3sf8n.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

 

Duke to buy rival Cinergy

The all-stock deal values Cinergy at $8.77 billion. E*Trade reportedly expresses interest in Ameritrade. Did AIG manipulate reserves to manage earnings?

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/Articles/Dispatches/P117681.asp

 

Brazil: The Newly Consolidated Brazilian Foreign Exchange Market

At a special session of March 4, 2005, the Brazilian Monetary Council approved Resolution Nº 3265 that simplifies the exchange rules theretofore in force and are part of the broader effort of economic reforms aimed at boosting the Brazilian economic production.  The premises spelled out in the law have been maintained, the required denomination in national currency remains unaltered; transactions are subject to registration with the Brazilian Central Bank (Bacen); transactions need to be made by way of exchange agreements; funds abroad or for the purpose of recording foreign capital, funds need to enter the country; exportations need exchange coverage; importations need to be paid; and private offsets of credits is are prohibited.1

http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=32375&lastestnews=1

 

ITG Releases April 2005 U.S. Trading Statistics

Investment Technology Group, Inc. , a leading provider of technology-based equity trading services and transaction research, today announced that U.S. trading volume was 2.1 billion shares for the month ended April 30, 2005, averaging 98 million shares per trading day.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050509/nym034.html?.v=7

 

Reports: E-Trade Makes Ameritrade Offer

In a possible consolidation of the online discount brokerage business, E-Trade Financial Corp. has made an offer for AmeriTrade Holding Corp., according to published reports Monday. Ameritrade shares soared 21 percent in morning trading.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050509/ap_on_bi_ge/online_brokers_9

 

The Andersons bullish for '05 Agricultural group starting well

The Andersons Inc., of Maumee, is looking for another solid year, but plans to reassess a struggling unit that produces fertilizer for lawns and golf courses, Chief Executive Mike Anderson said at the annual shareholders meeting yesterday.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050507/BUSINESS03/505070389

 

U.S. Treasury in final stages of currency report

http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=4PVZZQIW3T32WCRBAEKSFEY?type=reutersEdge&storyID=8415208

 

Merrill Passes Goldman as Top Banker to World's Banks (Update1)

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co., for the first time in at least three years, is leading Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley as the top investment bank to financial-services firms, Wall Street's biggest source of fees.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=avE4J4Dq7DR4

 

The Wall Street Journal Strengthens Its International Editions

The Wall Street Journal today announced a set of global initiatives to better serve its international readers and advertisers

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050508/85015.html?.v=1

 

On the Street: At Morgan Stanley, some worry clash endangers culture

Four of Morgan Stanley's top research analysts and strategists have written a letter urging senior management to safeguard the firm's culture and values in a clash with dissident shareholders.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05129/501571.stm

 

Morgan Stanley may be running out of time

NEW YORK: Morgan Stanley's embattled chief executive, Philip Purcell, may not have enough time to improve the investment bank's performance and quiet his critics before next year's crucial annual meeting, an analyst said last Thursday.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/5/9/business/10887943&sec=business

 

Helping minorities crack financial world

The son of a mailman, Rodney Tyson was part of the first generation in his family to go to college. But he knew no one who would help him learn the world of finance.

"There was no Uncle Dave who was going to tell you everything," said Tyson, 36, vice president in the investment banking group at Robert W. Baird & Co.'s Chicago office.

Instead, Tyson found a kind of "surrogate family" in the Robert Toigo Foundation, a 16-year-old, California-based organization dedicated to helping minorities make it in the financial services industry. Five "Toigo fellows" (pronounced "Twee-go") will graduate from Chicago MBA programs this year.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-toigo09.html

 

Join Congress, see the world

The destinations can be alluring: Paris, Grand Cayman Island, Las Vegas and Jackson Hole, Wyo. The hotels can be the finest: The Greenbrier resort, the Ritz or Mandalay Bay. The ticket can be first class. And the best part? The traveler--a member of...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0505080301may08,1,4739239.story

 

Other Voices

 

Today’s Other Voices contribution is from The Price Group’s Jack Scoville.  Jack is a futures market analyst specializing in grains, oilseeds, and tropical products such as coffee and sugar. He offers brokerage services to an international clientele of agricultural producers, processors, exporters, and other professional traders.  Jack writes daily comments of the products he specializes in two languages, English and Spanish. He also has a working knowledge of Portuguese.  Here is what Jack has to say about the CBOT’s plans for a new South American Soybean contract:

 

New South American Soybean Contract

 

May 20 is the day when CBOT will begin trading futures on Brazilian Soybeans.  It is the first time to my knowledge that an exchange will trade a product produced and delivered completely outside the US since World Sugar futures were introduced many years ago, and a first for the CBOT.  It is an interesting and potentially exciting new contract. The contract calls for Brazil #2 Soybeans to be delivered to a port, either Paranagua at par or Santos with a premium, on an FOB basis.  That makes it the first export based contract in CBOT’s agricultural trading complex, another first for the exchange.

 

CBOT worked closely with the industry and with ANEC, the grains and oilseeds export association of Brazil, to design a contract that would provide as much utility as possible to the industry throughout South America.  An export contract was chosen to avoid conflicts within domestic markets that the Chicago exchange might not be able to trade so well.  The export orientation is appropriate for South America, where a bigger percentage of the product goes to export than here in the US.  CBOT studies show that the contract correlates very well with domestic market conditions throughout South America, so producers from Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia might find utility in trading the new vehicle.  The contract size is 5,000 bushels, an interesting departure for a region of the world where metric measurements are the rule, but one the Board insists the local industry of South America wanted.  Taking delivery of the Soybeans means taking delivery of Soybeans at the port and with an ANEC contract, ready to be shipped anywhere in the world. 

 

The exchange has begun a series of informational meetings in important Soybeans production and trading centers and also the major cities of Brazil and Argentina to promote the new contract.  In short, the exchange is doing all it can to ensure the new contract is successful.  Interest in the new contract has surfaced in South America as the launch date grows closer.  Many industry participants will attend one of the CBOT seminars, and others will hear about it from brokers there and in Chicago. I am promoting the contract to my clients for hedging purposes and for speculation.  The price volatility will be there, but the big question will be liquidity, as it always is with any new contract. 

 

The new contract will provide ample trading opportunities, either in outright trading or on spreads against the US futures contract.  To a large extent, Soybeans are Soybeans, but the different and almost directly opposite seasonalities associated with growing crops in the southern and northern hemispheres should provide for some interesting spread trading.  CBOT research shows that the swings between US and South American prices can be $2.00 per bushel in a year or more.  This is a spread trade worth looking for and trading.  Brazilian producers and users can find cleaner hedging chances as prices traded will reflect much more closely the actual conditions of the local market.  For now, producers there have to trade the US contract and work some kind of trade in the local market to cover some of the risk in the changes in the cash market premiums.  The new contract promises to offer much better hedging and pricing opportunities as it will take the premiums traded in the cash market against Chicago and move them to the new futures contract.  Brazilian producers have had problems in the last couple of years making the old system work for them, and the new contract could make life a lot easier for them.

 

The contract comes at an opportune time for the Brazilian market and the exchange.  Currency changes have made life difficult for the producer, especially in Brazil.  The real has gained a lot on the Dollar, and this has greatly reduced the ability of the Brazilian producer to make money on his products.  This has hurt the industry as a whole, as the buyers have had trouble getting delivery so they can crush or turn around and export.  The current Soybeans contract can only partially reflect the difficult domestic and export market conditions of Brazil right now as it must also reflect the US reality.  The new contract should provide a better indication of the Brazilian and South American reality, and should provide better market intelligence and possibly better pricing opportunities to the producer and the rest of the industry there.  The seasonalities and differing market realities should provide for some interesting spreading and trading relationships for the speculator and the local trader who need to provide the liquidity to make the contract work. 

 

In short, the contract has a real chance for success.  The Brazilian Soy industry is taking it seriously and will most likely be willing to participate in this contract after the failure of the BMF to put together a contract that works locally.  BMF has had some good successes on the agricultural side of the market as Coffee and Corn and Cattle have been very successful contracts and as Sugar and Ethanol have also worked, but with less success.  The Soy industry has preferred trading in Chicago, and this contract provides terms specifically designed for the industry there.  Given the spread opportunities for the contract against its US cousin, and the interest in trading in physical commodities generally on the part of the public, the contract has a real chance to work.  Let’s hope so:  a successful South American Soybeans contract can lead to introduction of other futures contracts based on overseas production and could help keep the CBOT as a leader of agricultural futures trading and futures trading in general around the world.  That would be good for the exchange and the city of Chicago.   

 

Jack Scoville
jscovill@pricegroup.com

http://www.pricegroup.com/jscoville.htm

 

John's Comments

 

 

***** This is where I will be on Thursday and Friday of this week.  There will be a surprise guest editor for the newsletter on Thursday and Friday.  The newsletter on Thursday will likely be distributed in the late afternoon, due to my travel schedule.

 

********

 

Brent Crude Watch

 

IPE Brent Volume: 116,391

NYMEX Brent Crude Volume: 5621

NYMEX Percent of Total Volume: 4.61%

 

********

 

Chicago Electronic Trading Scorecard for May 6, 2005

 

Percent Electronic

 

CBOT: 71.39%

CME: 69.80%

CME Eurodollars: 83.62%

CME Live Cattle: .64%

CME Currency Products: 83.23%

CBOT Soybeans: 1.26%

 

CBOT Options: 9.66%

CME Options: 8.06%

 

Volume 

 

OneChicago Volume: 40,996

Eurex US Volume: 7156

Euronext.liffe Eurodollar Volume: 32,462

CBOE Futures Exchange Volume: 675

 

Market Share

 

CBOT 100 oz. Gold Volume: 1612

NYMEX 100 oz. Gold Volume: 81,713

CBOT Share: 1.93%

 

CBOT 5000 oz. Silver Volume: 195

NYMEX 5000 oz. Silver Volume: 20,708

CBOT Share: .93%

 

CBOT Mini Gold Volume: 1261

CBOT Mini Silver Volume: 348

 

CME Emini Russell 1000 (100X) Volume: 2028

Eurex US Mini Russell 1000 (100X) Volume: 1860

NYBOT Mini Russell 1000 (50X) Volume: 393

CFE Mini Russell 1000 (100X) Volume: 0

 

CME Emini Russell 2000 Volume: 101,149

Eurex US Mini Russell 2000 Volume: 4372

CFE Mini Russell 2000 Volume: 449

 

Notes: See CME press release above for volume records set Friday.

 

Liffe Eurodollar Over-Under

 

Liffe/Globex: 1.12%

Liffe/CME: .94%

 

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

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

 

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