Futures Magazine December 01, 2008
Cover Story
Top 50 Brokers
A year ago, large futures commission merchants worried about the potential abuse of pricing power the newly formed CME Group might wield and smaller FCMs were looking to the benefits in efficiencies
Breaking News
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CDS regulation battle
The question of who will regulate CDSs remains unanswered, but the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission
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Exchanges mull CDSs
The credit market meltdown stoked efforts to form central clearing facilities and trading platforms for credit default swaps (CDS). CME Group, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), NYSE Euronext and
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Agora-X petitions CFTC
Agora-X, which is developing an institutional electronic communications network for OTC commodities, petitioned the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to allow for clearing for OTC grain
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Promoted to lead MF Global
Former Chicago Board of Trade President and CEO Bernard W. Dan has succeeded Kevin R. Davis as chief executive officer of MF Global. Davis resigned from the company and its board of directors after
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MGEX goes electronic
Following a growing trend in the exchange world, the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) announced that it would close its trading pits and transition to fully electronic trading beginning Dec. 19. To
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CBOE to launch C2
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced plans to launch a separate new options exchange to compliment its existing hybrid-trading marketplace. The new exchange, dubbed C2, will have a
Trading Techniques
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Exploiting the limits of convertible bonds
Convertible bonds are hybrid securities that provide advantages to both issuers and investors. Corporations realize a number of advantages from issuing convertibles. They obtain long-term financing
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Gartley’s gap theory explained
While they are among the simplest technical conditions, price gaps — when successive price bars fail to overlap — generate a lot of questions among traders. Why do gaps happen? How can we foresee
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Going with one average, fading another
In mechanical trading research, more corroboration is always better than less. Something that produces spectacular results in five years of data can be good; if it also holds up even marginally in
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Unlocking the volatility key using ATR
Like trying to discover the end of the rainbow, capturing the essence of volatility is a challenging and elusive quest. Generally speaking, shorter-term traders thrive upon higher volatility because
Technology & Trading
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High risk, high volatility - high reward
We are experiencing some of the largest price swings in the history of the stock market, with hundred-point five-minute bars in the Dow Jones Industrial Average common. To survive in this market, you
Forex Trader
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One-minute forex trading
As 2008 ends, the environment for currency trading has undergone a shift towards greater volatility. A consequence of this shift is its impact on forex trading strategies and tactics. With
Industry Trends
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European banking boost
European exchanges have a policy of not releasing clearinghouse volume, but we can get a feel for who the dominant players are by calling trading desks in London and Frankfurt. Over the years, as
Markets
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Hot markets 2009: Will volatility be reined in?
What a difference a year makes. As we head into 2009, the trading environment is almost the inverse of this time last year when third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) was 3.8%, the dollar was
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Tech talk: Cycles turn up
The CPO uses complex algorithms to filter multiple cycles from historical data, combines them and gives a graphical representation of their productive behavior. The CPO methodology employs
Editor's Note
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Clearing the air
Oh to live in interesting times! With all the financial woes hitting global markets, worrying about the mechanics of clearing seems to be a low priority. But it’s not and here’s why: Last March
Book Reviews
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Hedge Fund Leadership
Psychiatrist Ari Kiev is a prolific author who has written five books focusing on different aspects of the psychology of trading. However, this book is quite a departure from his prior works as it is
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The Trader’s Guide to Key Economic Indicators
This is a revised and expanded edition of a book originally published in 2004. The first edition featured 12 well-known economic data series including housing, unemployment and other widely
Futures 101
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RSI: A systematic approach
RSI has the usefulness of being able to measure both overbought/oversold levels and indicate the presence of a trend. Levels of 30 and 70 are generally used as default guidelines for overbought and
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Measuring the big mo’
Over time, price changes. This fundamental attribute makes it possible to make money trading the markets. There are two general ways those price changes relate to time: direction and speed. Direction
Market Analysis
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Euro ugly
Risk aversion and interest rate compression are crushing the euro, and because money typically pours into the lowest yielding currencies in a recession, the damage is likely to continue. “Everyone is
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Gold losing luster
In times of economic uncertainty gold prices ordinarily take flight; this process has been suspended, at least temporarily, as the recent flashpoint in the credit crisis has been accompanied by a
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Dow Jones Industrial Average could bounce back
So much for the afterglow. After an impressive Election Day rally that took the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 300 points, the market puked out 928 points in the following two days
Managed Money
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New alternative to find new blood
PFGBEST.com has launched Peregrine Asset Management Inc., a strategic asset management initiative that will offer futures-based alternative investments at lower minimum investment levels than typical
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Adding girth to your profits
During early 2008, Maize Asset Management developed a proprietary phenomenological commodity trading model, which is embedded with statistical modules. These modules help define the direction,
New For Traders
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New for Traders
CME Group launched a new version of CME E-quotes. CME Group also launched 18 new natural gas basis, index and swing swaps futures contracts, 17 new petroleum product swaps futures contracts, five new
People
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Wolkoff to lead ELX
Neal Wolkoff was named CEO of the Electronic Liquidity Exchange. Previously he was chairman and CEO of the American Stock Exchange. Prior to that, he was COO at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
News
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International news
Nasdaq OMX Group has completed the acquisition of Nord Pool International's clearing, international derivatives and consulting subsidiaries and announced that it will launch Nasdaq OMX Commodities.
Trader Profiles
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Wong: Practice makes perfect
Vegasoul combines long-term trend following, short-term reversal and pattern recognition strategies.
Profiles in Forex
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Ariel Gelman: Forex architect
Ariel Gelman has a master’s degree in landscape architecture, but these days he makes his living cultivating the currency markets. He worked as an architect since moving to the U.S. from Argentina in
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Squeezebox strategy
One of the most successful trading strategies I found for markets is the Squeeze Box strategy. The Squeeze Box strategy anticipates breakouts though it does not indicate direction. It can work as a
