Inside these posts: futures contracts

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Grain rally forces large specs to cover shorts

Large speculators cut back on their bearish exposure to U.S. grain futures as an unexpected holiday season rally forced traders to cover short positions. Get the full story »

CME more optimistic on CFTC position limits

The top U.S. futures exchanges expressed confidence that a revised plan to clamp down on commodities market speculation will not unduly burden the market.

The comments on Wednesday by the chief executives of IntercontinentalExchange and CME Group were more optimistic than in the past, when exchanges, banks and other market participants sharply criticized the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s plan. Get the full story »

CME to launch Oman-linked contracts on Dec. 5

The Dubai Mercantile Exchange said on Thursday six new swaps and options contracts linked to its benchmark Oman crude OQc1 would be listed on Dec. 5. The exchange launched the Oman contract in 2007, aiming for it to become the marker for the 12 million barrels per day of crude that move from the Middle East to Asia.

It said the new contracts would be launched by CME Group Inc., the world’s biggest futures exchange operator and a shareholder in DME. Get the full story »

Managed funds cut record net long in CBOT corn

Large speculators cut their record net long position in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures and options as a U.S. Agriculture Department report showing large stockpiles of U.S. corn spurred a sharp drop in prices. Get the full story »

Eris Exchange to launch on June 26

The Eris Exchange, a new platform backed by proprietary trading groups, on Thursday introduced interest rate swap futures contracts as its initial product group ahead of a planned launch July 26.

The venture is working to recruit customers, and will open its doors to clients and futures brokerages next week, according to a release.

Eris, backed by firms including Getco LLC and DRW Holdings, is an effort by private trading firms to break into the market for over-the-counter derivatives, long the dominion of the biggest Wall Street banks. Get the full story »

CME Group plans interest-rate clearing in 2010

CME Group Inc, which runs the world’s biggest clearinghouse for futures contracts, plans to start clearing over-the-counter interest-rate contracts in 2010, an executive said on Wednesday.

A sweeping financial regulatory reform bill that won passage this month in the House will require trading and clearing of a swath of derivatives currently traded away from regulated exchanges. CME is among several clearinghouses that aim to take advantage of the new requirements. Get the full story »

Waddell & Reed says it didn’t cause flash crash

Dow Jones Newswires | Midwestern money manager Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. said
Monday that it did not cause the so-called flash crash of May 6, which
caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to plunge nearly 1,000 points
before recovering somewhat, Reuters reports Monday. “We did what our
fund shareholders rightly would expect of us,” the company said in a
letter to its financial advisers, according to the Reuters report.
“There is no evidence to suggest that our trades disrupted the market on
May 6.”

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Waddell was identified
as the trader that sold a big quantity of futures contracts during the
market plunge.