Recently in exchanges Category

The Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange-BM&F SA ended its Initial Public Offering (IPO) process with the participation of 260,946 investors. All of the 299,184,846 common shares offered to the market were sold. This figure includes 39.02 million common shares to cover over-allotments. The IPO generated BRL5.983 billion, absorbed in its totality by the selling shareholders. A total of 253,707 individual investors participated in the IPO, acquiring 28.56 million shares. The greatest volume of shares - 231.43 million - was purchased by 806 qualified institutional buyers. The end of the IPO process resulted in a free float of 33.2% of BM&F's common shares.

On Friday December 14, 2007 ICE Futures US, announced that the open-out-cry markets, for all but a hand full of futures contracts, will end removing the trades to cyber-space. Yes, options will continue to trade on the floor in open-out-cry, but futures will be gone from the pits. While we understand the expense involved with the support of an open-out-cry market, we also know full well, that in times of market disruptions, the open-out-cry market is the only market that can fairly disseminate prices. When cyber-space fails the open-out-cry market survives. This unanimous action by the ICE Futures US board in closing these vital markets is a mistake that will come to light during a crisis.

CME Group and the Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange Agree to Cross-Equity Stakes and Exclusive Order Routing Deal

Long-term partnership may be expanded to joint product development, off-shore collateral management services and clearing access arrangements.

Unless you have been hiding in a Kush mountain range cave like Osama Bin Laden (if he's still even around), then you have been hearing about U.S. and global equity markets reaching new record highs. If I'm not mistaken, I heard on CNBC this morning that the DJIA has hit a record high some 40+ times in 2007 whlie the Chinese Shanghai index has closed at a record high more than 70 days this year, including yesterday. So where do we go from these record highs.

NEW YORK, July 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., a subsidiary of NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMX), announced today that it set daily volume record for total futures and options contracts traded on the CME Globex electronic trading platform yesterday.

Here we are in another option expiration week. The major markets have broke through their respective old highs and are trading at or near record levels (except for the NASDAQ which has another 45% to reach its record highs, but is still trading at a six year high). Traders are trading with the bullish disposition that option expiration weeks typically show. But where will we fall at the end of the week? Although we would quit our day jobs if we knew the answer, we will do our best to at least give some thoughts on the forecast using open interest in the options market.

There is a preconceived notion by the general public that when the market is making new highs, everyone is happy and when the market is headed lower, everyone is crying. Although this is an epic generalization, it describes what I have noticed as the general public’s perception. Some of my friends who are not in the financial industry, but know that I am, ask me “Did you see the Dow was up 150 points, I bet you are happy”. Well, no and yes. My personal stock/mutual fund portfolio might have done well that day, but that does not mean I am happy with the gains. I also have to consider our fund which takes a market-neutral approach. Instead, I look at it a different way (but in the long run, it is all about gains and losses).

The Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange registered, on Friday, June the 8th, a historic record in trading volume: 3.88 million contracts, with a financial volume of US$ 167.2 billion

The interest rate futures market also reached a record volume on the same day, with 3.16 million traded contracts, surpassing the previous record of 2.582 million contracts, on April, the 19th, of 2007.