Posts Tagged ‘CME Group’
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Ever since the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) initial public offering in 2002 —if not before — the writing was on the wall in terms of the direction of member-based financial exchanges.
Exchanges were looking to demutualize and access the capital markets by going public. And the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) being the preeminent U.S. based options exchange, with a hungry and innovative challenger in the International Securities Exchange (ISE) hot on its heels, was no different. However, CBOE had a legacy to overcome.
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Tags: CBOE IPO, CME Group, Mergers
Posted in General, Markets | No Comments »
Friday, May 7th, 2010
Thursday May 6 was an odd day in the markets but perhaps not as odd as some may suspect. We pointed out a week earlier how the Dow Jones was pushing some pretty significant resistance, the 61.8% retracement level of the move from the 2007 high to the March 2009 low. The Dow touched that level and failed at the end of April (see chart below).
Add to that an odd consensus between bears and bulls of a significant downturn. Many bears were thinking we were at a historic high and ready for a reversal as the economy is poised for a double dip recession. Many bulls, realizing the market cannot go up forever and seeing that the S&P 500 rallied more than 80% from the March 2009 lows, were expecting a correction, a significant correction of as much as 10%. (more…)
Tags: CME Group, Dow Jones Industrial Average, economy
Posted in Markets | 2 Comments »
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley describes the recent economic crisis as more of a restructuring than a recession and wants to “position the city of Chicago to reap the benefits of the better economic times to come.” To do that he has called on leaders of Chicago’s financial trading industry. Daley convened business leaders at CME Group’s headquarters on March 25 to discuss ways the city can continue to help support and grow the industry.
The press conference included a lot of backslapping and a warning that the industry was portable and could be at risk if it was put at a regulatory disadvantage.
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Tags: bailout, CME Group, Fed, regulation
Posted in Markets, Regulatory/actions | No Comments »
Saturday, March 13th, 2010
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler has not endeared himself to the industry since taking the reins of the industry regulator. It has been an odd honeymoon as Gensler’s nomination was being held up by Senators concerned over his past advocacy of keeping over-the-counter trading free from direct regulation.
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Tags: CFTC, CME Group, futures exchanges, Gary Gensler
Posted in Regulatory/actions | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
CME Group is in talks to buy Dow Jones Indexes, according to The Financial Times, which reports that a deal would cost CME Group $700 million. This Wall Street Journal story cites the advantages of the deal, including cost cutting (as CME Group now pays Dow Jones licensing fees) and protecting the CME Group’s existing business lines. It’s unclear how or if this would affect CME Group’s current exclusive licensing agreement with S&P indexes. A CME Group spokesperson would not comment on anything specific. Do you think the deal will happen? Would it affect your trading? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Tags: CME Group, Dow Jones, S&P
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
On the eve of the annual Futures Industry Association’s Futures and Options Expo there is a lot of activity and rumors floating around.
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Tags: CFTC, CME Group, ELX Futures, Gary Gensler
Posted in Markets | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
When the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 10,000 for the first time in March 1999, I was standing on the financial floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. A large roar of approval rose from the traders as the Dow hit that historic and unprecedented benchmark.
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Tags: CME Group, Dow Jones Industrial Average
Posted in Markets | No Comments »
Friday, September 25th, 2009
CME Group announced this week that they would launch a new 30-year bond futures contract, one that would be nearly identical to the contract traded at the Chicago Board of Trade for more than 30 years except that deliverable securities for the new Long-Term Bond future will comprise cash Treasury bonds with at least 25 years of remaining term to maturity. The benchmark 30-year contract accepts deliverables with at least 15 years remaining to maturity. The so called “Ultra” Treasury bond will begin trading in the first quarter 2010.
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Tags: CME Group, Federal Reserve, TARP
Posted in Markets, economy | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
CME Group CEO Craig Donohue had a very relevant quote during today’s meetings on harmonization between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Alluding to the differences between the securities and futures markets, Donohue said it was like “Greeks speaking Chinese to people who speak Portuguese.” Sorting out the regulatory overlaps between the CFTC and SEC and achieving the harmonization called for by President Obama’s regulatory blueprint is a complicated matter indeed. The two agencies must complete a report on harmonization by Sept. 30. Otherwise, the matter will be forwarded to the Financial Services Oversight Council. CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton said he was optimistic that the two agencies could “solve their issues without ’Mom and Dad’ in the form of the Treasury Department stepping in.” (more…)
Tags: Bill Brodsky, CBOE, CFTC, CME Group, Craig Donohue, Options Clearing Corporation, regulation, SEC, Wayne Luthringshausen
Posted in Regulatory/actions | No Comments »
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
Industry leaders wasted no time commenting on the Obama Administration’s new regulatory reform proposal, “Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation,” released yesterday.
The proposal received mostly a chorus of praise from the industry. CME Group called it “a significant step towards restoring confidence in the integrity of financial markets.” International Swaps and Derivatives Association CEO Robert Pickel said in a statement that it “provide[s] an important framework for financial regulatory reform.” In his statement, Futures Industry AssociationPresident John Damgard “commend[ed] the administration for the thoughtfulness and comprehensiveness of its plan.” In a statement, Chicago Board Options Exchange ChairmanBill Brodsky said, “We are particularly pleased that the plan recognizes the need for greater coordination and harmonization of the SEC and CFTC, including streamlining the approval of new products and rule filings.” But not everyone is singing the proposal’s praises. (more…)
Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Brodsky, CBOE, CFTC, CME Group, credit default swaps, John Damgard, OTC, Robert Pickel, SEC, Treasury Department
Posted in Regulatory/actions | 1 Comment »
