May 10, 2005

 

Lead Stories

 

BW Commentary: The Merc's Bad Example

When CBOT and NYSE go public, will they also opt for dubious corporate governance?  Just what is "independence"? Advocates of good governance and most of Corporate America differ with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on the subject (CME ). Objectively, the notion seems clear: Independent directors hail from companies, law firms, accounting firms, or universities that have little or no link to the outfits they help govern. They are truly disinterested.  Not so at the Merc, the giant market for futures contracts, where all but a handful of directors are so enmeshed in the exchange that even industry insiders are appalled. Where independent governance is concerned, charges Futures Industry Assn. head John M. Damgard, the Merc "doesn't meet the laugh test."

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_20/b3933111_mz020.htm

 

How the Merc Defends Its Board

Three top officials argue that having directors with industry ties has been a key to its success

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_20/b3933112_mz020.htm

 

Reuters and Jefferies Announce Significant Update to CRB Index

Reuters , the global information company, and Jefferies Financial Products, LLC, a leading provider of commodity-related products for institutional investors and a subsidiary of Jefferies Group, Inc. , today announced a strategic alliance to revise the Reuters CRB Index, to be renamed the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index .

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050510/105629.html?.v=1

 

Redesigned Reuters CRB Index At New York Board Of Trade

http://www.nybot.com/releases/pressRelease.asp?releaseID=873

 

NYMEX: Blackstone bid 'sensitive' to open outcry 

By Timothy Gardner NEW YORK (Reuters) - An offer from investment firm Blackstone Group seeking a 20 percent stake in the New York Mercantile Exchange would more likely protect open

http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8431597

 

Europe underestimated Chicago's will-CME's Duffy 

CHICAGO (Reuters) - European exchanges underestimated the Chicago's futures industry's resolve when they launched competitive products in 2004, Terry Duffy, chairman of the Chicago Mercantile

http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8430737

 

CME says geography is not destiny 

By Ros Krasny NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange chairman Terry Duffy, speaking on Monday, said geographical proximity was "irrelevant" to determining whether the exchange ... 

http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8430737

 

Irish firm to launch US trading exchange

Irish trading exchange, Trade Exchange Network Ltd, is to launch a regulated electronic exchange in the US listing a range of economic and financial style contracts for institutional and retail members.

http://www.businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=1168319;s=rollingnews.htm

 

Trade Exchange Network eyes data derivatives exchange

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Dublin, Ireland-based Trade Exchange Network Ltd. said Monday it has established a U.S. subsidiary to launch an electronic derivatives exchange trading options on financial and economic indicators.

http://www.marketwatch.com/enf/rss.asp?guid=%7B1463A121-B906-4FDE-A005-5CE911047A2D%7D&dist=rss&siteid=mktw

 

Deutsche Boerse shareholder proposes tie-up with Euronext

FRANKFURT (AFP) - London-based hedge fund TCI (The Children's Investment Fund), one of Deutsche Boerse's main shareholders, believes the German stock market operator should merge with arch-rival Euronext.  "It would be fantastic. From a structural point of view, the two (platforms) would fit together well. It would make more sense than a costly acquisition of the London Stock Exchange," TCI director Patrick Degorce told the business daily Handelsblatt in an interview published Tuesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050510/ts_afp/germanyeuropestock_050510105939

 

**** More misbegotten ideas.

 

Euronext 'remains focussed' on LSE project - source - UPDATE

PARIS (AFX) - Euronext NV 'remains focussed' on its proposal to acquire London Stock Exchange PLC, rather than considering the idea of a merger with Deutsche Boerse AG as mooted by The Children's Investment Fund, a source close to the Euronext-LSE project said.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2005/05/10/afx2012909.html

 

Exits Spark Deutsche Börse Speculation

The resignations of Deutsche Börse's chief executive and chairman this week have reignited speculation of a possible tie-up between the operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange and its French-led arch-rival, Euronext.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1579573,00.html

 

CBOT files public offering document with SEC; Risks include increased competition, better funded rivals and price wars

By Kate Ryan

The Chicago Board of Trade on Monday filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating its intent to go public in a $150 million offering.  The deal will be underwritten jointly by Credit Suisse First Boston and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Inc. Citigroup, William Blair & Co. and Keefe Bruyette and Woods will also act as managers for the transaction. The offering will occur “as promptly as practicable,” according to the filing.

http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=16440

 

CBOT will join IPO rush with $150 million deal

By Ros Krasny

NEW YORK, May 9 (Reuters) - CBOT Holdings Inc., holding company of the No. 2 U.S. futures exchange, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday to raise up to $150 million in an initial public offering of stock.  The 157-year-old CBOT has not yet set terms for the IPO's price or the number of shares, nor has it determined on which exchange its stock will trade.

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=bondsNews&storyID=8431682

 

ESpeed sweetens offer for MTS

ESpeed, the dominant trading platform for US Treasury bonds, has sugar-coated its attempts to buy MTS, the eurozone government bond trading platform, by offering a seat on its own board to an Italian Finance Ministry official if its bid is successful.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/7a38c022-c0f1-11d9-a3da-00000e2511c8.html

 

ISDA Celebrates 20 Years at the Forefront of the Privately Negotiated Derivatives Industry

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. will celebrate its 20th anniversary as the trade association for the privately negotiated derivatives industry with a reception and dinner in London on Wednesday, May 11, 2005.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050510/105880.html?.v=1

 

CLEARING CORPORATION ANNOUNCES CREATION OF SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Chicago, May 10, 2005 - The Clearing Corporation ("CCorp") announced today the creation of its sales and business development team. Mr. Martin J. ("Chip") Dempsey has joined CCorp as Senior Vice President and Head of Sales. Additionally Mr. Pasi Miettinen has been promoted to Head of Business Development and Chief Strategy Officer. 

http://www.bobsguide.com/guide/news/9258.html

 

Environmental Trading News

 

The tipping point

Rising energy prices and venture capital in search of a new home are leading to a revival of clean-technology startups with specialist IT skills.

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

 

Exchange News

 

CBOT Strike Price Notice, May 10, 2005

http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/cont_detail/0,3206,1032+28096,00.html

 

ISE Weekly Listings

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176358&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=707610&highlight=

 

REMINDER: "Give-Up Rule" (NYMEX)

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/shareholder/notice_to_member.jsp?id=ntm197&archive=2005

 

REMINDER: "Give-Up Rule" (COMEX)

http://www.nymex.com/jsp/shareholder/notice_to_member.jsp?id=ntm196&archive=2005

 

New York Stock Exchange's Third Annual Global Opportunities Conference

Listen to live company presentations.

http://www.nyse.com/events/1111491852937.html

 

Chairman Breuer, Further Members of the Supervisory Board and CEO Werner Seifert to Leave Deutsche Börse

http://deutsche-boerse.com/dbag/dispatch/en/listcontent/gdb_navigation/press/10_Latest_Press_Releases/Content_Files/13_press/pm_news_090505.htm

 

Seifert, Breuer yield to Boerse investor pressure

FRANKFURT, May 9 (Reuters) - Deutsche Boerse Chief Executive Werner Seifert stepped down on Monday after a six-month tussle with investors angered at his abrasive handling of a bid for the London Stock Exchange, which he was forced to drop in March.  After an emergency supervisory board meeting, Chairman Rolf Breuer, who is equally in the eye of the storm, agreed to leave at the end of the year at the latest, once he had found successors for four other board members who are also leaving.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8430693

 

Management cull at Deutsche Boerse reignites speculation of Euronext tie-up

The spectacular resignation of both the chief executive and the non-executive chairman of Deutsche Boerse this week has reignited speculation of a possible tie-up between the operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange and its arch-rival, Euronext.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050510/ts_afp/germanyeuropestockcompanymergerboerse_050510131947

 

Seifert quits Deutsche Börse

May-9-2005 - Werner Seifert resigned as chief executive of Deutsche Börse AG today, the climax of disagreements between the exchange and shareholders led by a London-based hedge fund

http://www.marhedge.com/news/Cover.Hedge.asp?s=HedgeH-2005-05-09-13-37-57p1.htm

 

Visionary who fell foul of investors

In his 12 years at Deutsche Börse, Werner Seifert, the group's jazz-loving chief executive, achieved a lot. The former management consultant took what was a tired Frankfurt stock exchange and built it through organic expansion, bold acquisition and a stock market listing of its own into the world's biggest listed exchange group.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/965f34e0-c0b8-11d9-a3da-00000e2511c8.html

 

*** Online FT subscription required.

 

Deutsche Borse duo fall on their swords

THE chairman and chief executive of Deutsche Borse have resigned after a venomous battle with rebel shareholders, sparked by the German market's abandoned £1.35bn bid for the London Stock Exchange.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/business/articles/timid400413?source=This%20is%20Money

 

German heads roll after aborted bid for exchange

Deutsche Borse's aborted bid for the London Stock Exchange has claimed the scalps of the chairman and the chief executive, who resigned rather than face a defeat by shareholders.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/German-heads-roll-after-aborted-bid-for-exchange/2005/05/10/1115584966518.html

 

***** Hmmm.  Werner Seifert is Austrian, not German.  And this story has two gruesome clichés, one about heads being cut off and another about the scalps.  Now this is quality journalism.

 

CBOT, Shanghai exchange ink cooperation pact

SHANGHAI, May 10 (Reuters) - The Chicago Board of Trade and the Shanghai Futures Exchange have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on developing new products, including financial futures, the two exchanges said on Tuesday.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050510/3/20pu5.html

 

NYSE Seat Owner Higgins Sues to Stop Archipelago Deal (Update3)

U.S. May 9 (Bloomberg) -- A New York Stock Exchange member sued to block the exchange's merger with Archipelago Holdings Inc., contending the deal shortchanges seat owners and that its underwriter, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has a conflict of interest.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a7cU015rEWE4

 

SUIT SLAMS 'CHEAP' NYSE MERGER PAYOFF

One of the loudest critics of the New York Stock Exchange's merger with Archipelago has taken his beef off the NYSE's trading floor and into New York State Supreme Court.

http://www.nypost.com/business/46201.htm

 

Trading Starts 15 Minutes Earlier on 17 May 2005 [May 10,2005]

http://www.tfx.co.jp/en/newsfile/05/20050517gdp_e.html

 

The Revision of Position Limits on Equity Options

http://www.ose.or.jp/e/news/0505/050509b.html

 

PHLX Agreement with Savvis to Partner in Development of PBOT Market Data Distribution Network

http://www.phlx.com/news/pr2005/05pr051005.htm

 

Letter From American Stock Exchange Chairman And CEO Neal Wolkoff To Members And Seat Owners (5/9/2005)

http://www.exchange-handbook.co.uk/news_story.cfm?id=52811

 

 

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/dig050905.txt

 

FASB May Re-Open Talks on Derivatives and Hedging Activities

AccountingWEB.com - May 10, 2005 - The Financial Accounting Standards Board may re-start discussions on one of its most controversial standards–accounting for derivatives.  Financial Accounting Standard 133–Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities–took effect in 2000 and angered many business owners. Companies were required to report fair value for certain items such as derivatives and other securities on the balance sheet, and adjust earnings to reflect changes in market value.

http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=100883&d=815&h=817&f=816&dateformat=%25B%20%25e,%20%25Y

 

SEC Staff to Begin Publicly Releasing Comment Letters and Responses

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-72.htm

 

Courtover Investment Management Ltd fined £20,000 for approving misleading financial promotion

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/PR/2005/047.shtml

 

CFTC Puts End To Third-Party Custodial Accounts

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has amended section 4d(a)(2) of the Commodity Futures Act to eliminate the use of third-party custodial accounts by futures commission merchants (FCMs).

http://www.compliancereporter.com/default.asp?page=1&SID=504162&ISS=15361&pressbox=1

 

SEC To Morgan: Cough Up The Emails

The Securities and Exchange Commission will ask Morgan Stanley to surrender newly discovered emails "as soon as possible," according to an SEC official.

http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/default.asp?page=1&SID=503998&ISS=14977&type=23

 

**** Less painful than heads rolling, but still….

 

Committee Of European Securities Regulators Publishes Answers Received To Its Call For Evidence On The Establishment Of A Mediation Mechanism

http://www.exchange-handbook.co.uk/news_story.cfm?id=52819

 

Managed Futures - Managed Funds

 

Market Risk – Hedge Funds Generate Negative Returns In April

http://www.garp.com/risknews/newsfeed.asp?Category=6&MyFile=2005-05-10-10763.html

 

Canadian regulator bans fraudulent hedge fund

May-10-2005 - Michael Ernst Ruge and his Chivas Hedge Fund Ltd have been banned from trading in securities for 25 years after he admitted lying to investors about the hedge fund

http://www.marhedge.com/news/Cover.Hedge.asp?s=HedgeH-2005-05-10-08-16-40p1.htm

 

Brevan hedge fund paid members £60m

A London-based hedge fund paid its members almost £60m ($113m) last year, Companies House filings show, in the latest sign of the rewards luring increasing numbers of traders and other professionals from investment banks to the trillion-dollar industry.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/46ff1598-c0c0-11d9-a3da-00000e2511c8.html

 

Piercing the mists of hedge fund secrecy

Secrecy continues to shroud much of the hedge fund industry. Many of some of the largest funds in the industry adopt a near-subterranean low profile. A discreet nameplate on an office in London's Mayfair or a basic website is about as far as some funds like to project themselves to the outside world.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/e3ff5c08-1b21-11d9-9fe4-00000e2511c8.html

 

Fmr Canary Exec: BofA Platform Let Hedge Fund Late Trade

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Bank of America Corp. (BAC) personnel who helped set up an electronic platform allowing Canary Capital Partners to trade mutual funds through an account at the bank knew the fund traded after the market closed while getting same-day prices, a witness testified during the criminal trial of former Bank of America broker Theodore C. Sihpol.

http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?cat=USMARKET&src=704&feed=dji&section=news&news_id=dji-00057420050509&date=20050509&alias=/alias/money/cm/nw

 

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

 

How Plan for a Tunnel Turned Goldman Against Downtown

In many ways, of all the pieces of the developing World Trade Center site, none of them - not the Freedom Tower, the memorial or the other proposed buildings - are as important right now as the project that was supposed to go up across the street: a gleaming new $2 billion headquarters for Goldman Sachs, one of downtown's largest and most prominent employers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/10/nyregion/10rebuild.html?

 

Wall Street Journal has new take on size matters

http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=IJUOFDO1MH5BECRBAEZSFEY?type=reutersEdge&storyID=8429795

 

Deutsche Bank Hurt By Hedge Fund Talk

1514 GMT [Dow Jones] Deutsche Bank (DB) shares down 2.9% at EUR61.92 amid speculation it's involved, either via a stake or as prime broker, with a hedge fund that's experiencing financial difficulties, say traders. General Motors (GM) credit exposure is being cited.

http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_817623.html

 

Refco offer for Easyscreen wholly unconditional

LONDON (AFX) - Refco Trading Services (UK) Ltd said its recommended offer for EasyScreen PLC has been declared wholly unconditional.

http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=5290465&subject=companies&action=article

 

Schwab: No mergers for us

Charles Schwab Corp. (SCH) says it's not interested in acquiring either E*Trade Financial Corp. (ET) or Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD) , whose stocks have recently gained ground as investors bet on more online- brokerage mergers.

http://money.cnn.com/rssclick/2005/05/10/news/fortune500/schwab_not.dj/index.htm?section=money_latest

 

Ex-Citi Exec Scaturro Named CEO Of Schwab Unit

http://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews/2005/05/09/0509autofacescan10.html?partner=rss

 

PRISON FEARS GET TO EX-GOLDMAN PRO

TO EX-GOLDMAN PRO May 10, 2005 -- An ousted Goldman Sachs economist jailed for insider trading is trying to get sprung early from a Brooklyn prison where he said he fears for his life among terrorists and mob hitmen.

http://www.nypost.com/business/46211.htm

 

Balancing the attributes of E-Trade, Ameritrade

It is rumored that E-Trade is buying Ameritrade, but Ameritrade could just as easily be buying E-Trade. Although E-Trade is bigger than Ameritrade in revenue and net income, Ameritrade has a higher market value, price-earnings ratio and pre-tax profit margin.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/05/10/BUGITCMI9L1.DTL&type=tech

 

Higher commissions seen if brokers merge

Reports that online trading and banking company E-Trade Financial has made overtures to buy rival Ameritrade sent shares of Ameritrade up nearly 20 percent Monday, as analysts speculated that such a merger could end the free fall in commissions many investors have enjoyed.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/business/technology/11610123.htm

 

Can mergers turn fortune of Internet brokerages?

Online brokerage firms have kept cutting trading commissions over the past year. But with the stock market still slumping, the firms may have no choice left but to combine.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/10/business/etrade.php

 

Rival online brokerages look to merge

E*Trade Financial has expressed interest in merging with Ameritrade Holding, its rival online securities brokers, in a sign that last month's deals between America's top exchanges is forcing change in related businesses.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ft/20050509/bs_ft/fae7472ac0ab11d9a3da00000e2511c8

 

GE's Accounting Flub

The conglomerate has run afoul of the trickiest bookkeeping rules of all--those for derivatives bookkeeping.

http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/05/10/cz_emc_0510ge.html?partner=rss

 

Former Chicago Bear Stearns Banker, 2 Others Indicted (Update1)

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- A former Bear, Stearns & Co. municipal- bond banker and a former member of an Illinois board that approves hospital construction in the state were charged with extortion and fraud, the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago said today.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a.9odVHkOWzM

 

John's Comments

 

CME – CBOT Merger Talk;  A Response

 

By John J. Lothian

 

With all due respect to former three-term CBOT Chairman Mr. Patrick Arbor, who yesterday offered his support for a CBOT-CME merger in a letter to the Editor of the Chicago SunTimes, I disagree with some of his reasoning and conclusions.

 

Here are a couple of points from his letter and my response:

 

Cost of Sarbanes-Oxley

 

There is no organization better suited to efficiently comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley requirements than a U.S. regulated futures exchange, particularly one of the larger exchanges like the CBOT.  The CBOT’s marketing mantra is one of openness, transparency and fairness.  They have a long record of being extraordinarily proficient at regularly reporting to the regulatory bodies.  Complying with Sarbanes-Oxley should come easy for the CBOT, relatively speaking.  Play to your strengths, not your fears.

 

Consolidation

 

Consolidation for consolidation’s sake is a bad idea, particularly when it combines two organizations that arguably have monopoly positions in their individual markets.  Even though the CBOT and CME created the Common Clearing Link, they still compete, particularly at the short end of the interest rate yield curve.  Combining the CBOT and CME would invite the U.S. Department of Justice, let alone the SEC and CFTC, to look at the combination from an anti-trust perspective.  While the government may agree to the merger, in response I believe they would be likely to recommend legislation or make a rule compelling fungible products and common clearing across the industry to foster competition.  The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 was all about creating an environment of competition.  By and large it has been a huge success.  The government is not likely to turn a blind eye to the creation of a competition stifling monopoly without a response to counter the market controlling influences of such a concentration.

 

Quite frankly, I think a CBOT – CME merger plays into the hands of those institutional interests who want decentralized markets and an industry-wide common clearing utility organization, which would create an environment for the introduction of greater internalized trade and harm the price discovery process and diminish trading opportunities.

 

Jobs

 

I won’t argue whether a combined CBOT and CME would create or destroy jobs in Chicago.  However, I will argue that all this talk about a merger or takeover harms the morale of the staff of both organizations.  The savings that would need to be created to satisfy the bean counters and shareholders would mean laying off staff from one exchange or another.  This cloud hanging over the CBOT and CME staff is counter-productive and unnecessary.

 

Valuation

 

The best valuation for the CBOT will come from an open marketplace where all potential buyers can interact with each other.  The more bids the better.  The more bidders, the better.  The greater diversity of bidders, even better.  Floating a limited number of shares in the CBOT for the public investors and institutions to buy, with current member/shareholders locked up over the near-term, restricts the supply of available share at a time when demand for shares of derivative trading exchanges is high.  This is what I call the Martha Stewart effect.  There are many buyers of CBOT shares who want nothing to do with trading rights.  Let the market decide which buyers have the maximum utility for owning shares in a publicly traded CBOT.  Let the market decide, it is never wrong.

 

Conclusion

 

Competition and innovation are what have driven the futures industry growth in recent years.  Diminishing that competition through a combination of two dominant players is not in the best interest of the markets themselves or its users, in my personal opinion.  Creating a super monopoly exchange only invites governmental intervention that could harm innovation, raise exchange and clearing fees and diminish the effectiveness of the price discovery process.  Let the market decide.

 

*****

 

Opportunity

 

Alex McCallum of MarketForum ( www.marketforum.com) is looking for an advertising rep. to take responsibility for selling ads on his popular futures & options message board (founded in 1999) which draws 15,000 unique visitors a month.  Posters and readers are chiefly retail.  Generous commission rate.  If you’re interested, please contact McCallum, who is a former CME PR director (1979-82), at (603) 778-8179 or alex@marketforum.com

 

*****

 

Panel to Discuss "Forecasting the Markets and the Economy” on May 17

 

CHICAGO, May 4, 2005 –  Two financial experts will discuss the theme, "Forecasting the Markets and the Economy," at the next meeting of Chicago QWAFAFEW.  This meeting will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17 at the Chicago Board Options Exchange, 400 South LaSalle Street, Chicago.   The topics that will be covered include the outlook for the economy, a methodology for market forecasting, the interest-rate outlook, and an industry outlook.  The meeting is co-sponsored with the Investments Analysts Society of Chicago, http://www.iaschicago.org.

 

The panelists for the meeting are Ms. Elaine Garzarelli, President of Garzarelli Capital, Inc.  and Dr. David Mirza, Associate Professor of Economics at Loyola University, Chicago.  Ms. Garzarelli was a partner and managing director at several major brokerage firms prior to starting her own company in 1995.  She has been studying the stock market for over 20 years and has been ranked first team in Quantitative Analysis in Institutional Investor’s All-Star poll for 11 years.  Dr. Mirza is a Director of the Institute of Futures Trading at Loyola University.  Dr. Mirza’s research interests are international trade, international monetary relations, money and banking, and futures markets.  Also, he serves as a consultant for various commodities and legal firms.

 

This will be the 26th meeting of Chicago QWAFAFEW (Quantitative Work Alliance for Applied Finance, Education & Wisdom) www.qwafafew.org.  Steering committee members of Chicago QWAFAFEW include Mr. Sanjay Arya, Morningstar, www.morningstar.com; Mr. David Barone, Turning Point Securities; Mr. Adam Cohen, Zacks Investment Research, Inc., www.zackspro.com; Dr. Barry Feldman, Prism Analytics, www.prismanalytics.com; Mr. Matthew Moran, Chicago Board Options Exchange, www.cboe.com;  Mr. Ranga Nathan, InvestMatrix Inc.; Mr. David O'Brochta, UBS, www.ubs.com; Mr. Richard Seefeldt, BRI Partners LLC, and Ms. Hilary Till, Premia Capital Management, LLC, www.premiacap.com.

 

Admission is $10 with snacks and drinks provided.  Please RSVP via http://www.qwafafew.org/chicago by Thursday, May 12th.

 

**********

Financial Options Workshop

 

The CBOT will host a one-day Financial options workshop on May 18th, 2005 with options author and speaker Jay Sorkin. The workshop will cover in detail a number of topics including the basics of options, fundamental properties of options, option pricing, and Financial option strategies. Details are available at www.cbot.com/education/classes

 

 

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?

 

 

Disclaimer: The John Lothian Newsletter is a product of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc.  The opinions expressed are strictly the opinion of John Lothian, and not necessarily those of his employer, 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.

 

This is an opt-in newsletter.  If you wish to unsubscribe, please check the address of list you are receiving the newsletter from and then click on the appropriate link below.

 

mailto:johnlothiannewsletter-request@johnlothiannewsletter.com?subject=unsubscribe

 

mailto:johnlothiannewsletter1-request@johnlothiannewsletter.com?subject=unsubscribe

 

mailto:johnlothiannewsletter2-request@johnlothiannewsletter.com?subject=unsubscribe

 

mailto:johnlothiannewsletter3-request@johnlothiannewsletter.com?subject=unsubscribe

 

mailto:johnlothiannewsletter4-request@johnlothiannewsletter.com?subject=unsubscribe

 

mailto:johnlothiannewsletter5-request@johnlothiannewsletter.com?subject=unsubscribe

 

If the unsubscribe links above do not work for you, please send an email to johnlothian@johnlothian.com with unsubscribe in the subject line.

 

This is a voluntary pay newsletter.  The voluntary pay fee for a 1-year subscription is $95, or $55 for 6-months.  For more details about this, or to sign up to receive the newsletter, please go to www.johnlothiannewsletter.com.