01.09.2006 - CBOT to Launch New Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index Futures
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) today announced plans to launch a new futures contract based on the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index (DJ-AIGCISM) on October 2, 2006.

01.09.2006 - Natural gas is a profitable but tricky futures play
There are few markets to trade in the resource arena that are more volatile and potentially more profitable than natural gas. In order to profit rather than implode, a trader must understand the factors that affect the commodity. Even then it can be tricky.

01.09.2006 - Oil settles more than $1 lower
Crude dips below $70 despite row over Iran's nuclear program.

01.09.2006 - Yen-funded carry trade lifts sterling and Aussie dollar
The yen continued its recent slide this week as soft Japanese economic data gave carry trade investors every incentive to keep borrowing the low-yielding currency and seek higher returns elsewhere.

04.09.2006 - CFDs - a controversial investment choice
CFD s used to be a fiddly, niche product used by investors to avoid stamp tax on UK share trades. Today, so-called “contracts for difference” are commonplace. And their uses range from giving hedge funds cheap leverage to providing exposure to exotic equity sectors in emerging markets.

05.09.2006 - Funds snap up metals, coffee at highs
Fund managers stocked up on metals on Tuesday, propelling copper up by some 5 per cent and gold by 2 per cent, while supply worries sent robusta coffee futures to their highest since 1998. Analysts said investment funds might be pouring their September allocation into base metals, driving prices up. London Metal Exchange copper futures shot back above USD 8,000 a tonne to peak at USD 8,030 -- a gain of nearly 5 per cent and their firmest in just under a month. Zinc and nickel also posted strong gains.

06.09.2006 - Eurex trading volume up 19 per cent in August to 107 million contracts
A total of approximately 107 million derivative contracts were traded on Eurex in August, a 19 per cent increase on the previous year.

07.09.2006 - Chicago Merc eyes real-estate futures, options
New futures and options contracts from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange designed to hedge real-estate exposure are drawing more interest as investors grip with the unpleasant reality the U.S. housing market may be facing a deeper-than-expected downturn. The CME earlier this week said it has partnered with commercial real estate index provider Global Real Analytics to launch 10 initial derivatives contracts based on property type and geography. The exchange has already introduced futures and options tied to regional home prices.

07.09.2006 - Hedge fund ratings 'not a substitute for due diligence'
Standard & Poor's decision to start rating hedge funds has been welcomed as "generally a good thing" by an asset management company, although it has warned that there is no substitute for due diligence. Although hedge funds may have a mysterious image in the eyes of the wider public, F&C Asset Management claims that they are "transparent" to investment professionals, while there is a "wide variety" of companies offering services to help with due diligence on the part of hedge funds.

07.09.2006 - Popularity of ETFs booming outside of US
Exchange traded funds are spreading like wildfire outside of the USA, sparking as much as 30% asset gains in some regions during the first half of 2006 as demand heats up for a bevy of new products. Europe is leading the charge in product launches and asset growth, according to a new report from Morgan Stanley of New York. Japan, Mexico and India are making headway, too, as more ETF providers move ahead with a busy introduction schedule. Overall, 65 new ETFs were listed outside the United States in the first half of 2006, Morgan Stanley said in the report. And another 93 ETFs are expected before the year is up.

07.09.2006 - Oil near 5-month low, eyes U.S. fuel data
Oil prices slipped to their lowest level in five months before recovering slightly on Thursday as dealers took a pause from a three-day decline ahead of U.S. data expected to show healthy fuel stocks.

07.09.2006 - Nasdaq to launch options market
In a bid to capture share in one of the fastest growing securities markets, the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. on Thursday confirmed plans to start an options exchange.

08.09.2006 - Jade to Go "Live" on September 25
Exchange to launch Rubber Contract First Followed by Crude Palm Oil Futures Contract.

08.09.2006 - Precious Metals Fall on Dollar Strength
Prices for precious metals fell Friday due to a strengthening U.S. dollar and lower crude-oil prices. "It was more commodity fund liquidation after they all ran into the market on Tuesday," said Mike Zarembski, futures analyst with Xpresstrade.

08.09.2006 - Easy access commodities may have arrived too late
The launch of new "exchange-traded commodities" is good news for investors looking to play the commodities market but there are fears they may have missed the boat. Private investors in the UK are set to gain the opportunity to back commodities relatively easily through the launch of new "exchange-traded commodities' (ETCs) to be launched by ETF Securities this month. The idea is for investors to be able to diversify their portfolios further and benefit from the relatively low correlations between these assets and more traditional equity and bond investments.

10.09.2006 - Dollar at 6-week highs; yen falls after BoJ rate decision
The dollar rose to six-week highs against the euro, sterling and the Swiss franc Friday on speculation that the Federal Reserve may still raise interest rates down the road and as traders adjusted positions ahead of the upcoming meeting of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations.

10.09.2006 - Man Group mulling US listing for brokerage unit
UK-based hedge fund manager Man Group is likely to list its brokerage arm in New York if it goes ahead with the mooted spin-off of the business, according to a report in the Observer. Recent changes at board level, including chief executive Stanley Fink's forthcoming move to the chairman's post, have prompted speculation that a demerger of the brokerage unit is imminent, said the paper in an unsourced article. Man Group is understood to be unhappy at the low rating it enjoys on the London Stock Exchange, and sees a demerger as the best way of addressing the issues, added the report.

10.09.2006 - New managed futures fund managed by GreenStream Ltd
GreenStream Ltd has been awarded an investment management mandate for a new specialised managed futures fund, GreenStream MF Ltd Cayman.

11.09.2006 - Bear Stearns expands precious metals group globally
Bear, Stearns & Co Inc announced on Monday that its precious metals group has expanded to a global, full-service hard asset business through several key hires and new product capabilities. Since its formation in January, the precious metals group has hired several experts to build the operation into a 24-hour, client-driven business with trading and sales specialists in New York, London and Hong Kong. To expand its transaction capabilities for clients, Bear Stearns also became a member of the London Bullion Market Association in April and the London Platinum and Palladium Market in August. The firm is a full member of the Commodity Exchange, Inc and the Chicago Board of Trade.

12.09.2006 - Gold and Silver Breakouts Offer Opportunities
Gold and silver broke down recently, and fell through key support levels on Monday, September 11, 2006. I see an opportunity for market bears after a likely retracement period. So be a little patient, but look to sell.

12.09.2006 - Weak Start to Week for S Futures
Friday, September 8, December S&P futures posted an inside session, which means the market traded within the prior day's highs and lows. This can be a mark of market indecision, and I expect a mild bearish bias at least in the early part of the session.

12.09.2006 - Funds of hedge funds downgrade forecasts
Fund of hedge fund managers have downgraded expectations for returns over the next six months as global growth and a commodities bull run have cooled, according to a Reuters poll on Monday. The quarterly survey of 13 funds of hedge fund managers, which together manage more than USD 100 billion, showed they expected average returns, with only a few strategies, such as emerging markets, anticipated to bring above average results. The poll, carried out between 30 August and 8 September, showed a shift down in sentiment from the last survey, when half of all strategies were forecast to deliver superior returns in one or both of the following two quarters.

13.09.2006 - LSE launches world's first multi-currency trading service for ETFs
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has launched the world's first multi-currency trading service for ETFs.

13.09.2006 - Cayman Islands marks 8,000th hedge fund
The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has announced that the jurisdiction now has more than 8,000 registered hedge funds, an increase of more than 2,000 funds since the beginning of 2005. More than 1,000 new hedge funds were authorized in the first half of 2006 alone, which is a record for any six-month reporting period in the Cayman Islands. This surge in hedge funds is the result of a range of factors including non-traditional applications of hedge funds and increased interest in emerging markets, according to a new analysis by global offshore law firm Walkers.

14.09.2006 - Gold forecast to reach $700 by year end
Gold prices could clear the $700 a troy ounce level by the end of the year, driven by a return of significant investor buying, according to GFMS, the precious metals consultancy.

15.09.2006 - Hedge funds boost fixed-income flows
Hedge funds now account for more than half of all trading in some important areas of the US fixed income markets, a study by consultancy Greenwich Associates has found.

15.09.2006 - Hedge fund to stake out public terrain?
Fortess Investment Group, a hedge fund with $24.3 billion under management, is considering going where no U.S. hedge fund has gone before - public.

15.09.2006 - CBOT Announces Investment in ROOT
The CBOT announced a $1 million investment in ROOT, a commodities exchange for Internet-generated consumer leads.

15.09.2006 - Euro Commodity Crosses May Breakout
1. EURAUD 2. EURCAD 3. EURNZD

15.09.2006 - ICE to buy Nybot for $1bn
The IntercontinentalExchange sealed a $1bn agreement to acquire the member-owned New York Board of Trade, heralding another industry push into hybrid electronic and floor-based derivative trading.

15.09.2006 - Swissie hits 61-year low against the euro
The Swiss franc made the biggest stir in the forex market this week as the country's central bank reaffirmed a committment to "gradual" monetary tightening.

17.09.2006 - Steady Fed may send stocks to 2006 highs
Stocks could rally back up to their highs of the year this week if the Federal Reserve shows Wall Street that its decision to keep interest rates on hold last month was not just a one-off.

18.09.2006 - Ex-Goldman/Tudor team launches new futures fund
Ex-Goldman Sach trader Chris Clarke and Hans Summers, ex-Tudor Capital analyst and programmer, have joined forces with KTH Fund Management to launch the Westferry Global Markets Fund.

18.09.2006 - Growth in derivatives to have profund effect on Wall Street firms
New research from TowerGroup finds that US brokerage firms will generate USD 33.2 billion from derivatives related revenue in 2006. The notional value of derivatives globally grew from USD 98 trillion in 2000 to USD 270 trillion in 2005. In the first three quarters of 2006, Wall Street has made record profits from derivatives and structured products. TowerGroup believes the derivatives market is currently at the tipping point, on its way to coming into its own as an asset class. Over the next three years, TowerGroup expects buy-side derivatives usage to explode.

18.09.2006 - Dollar hits 5-month yen high after G7; euro up on ECB comments
The dollar rose to a five-month high against the yen Monday after the world's leading industrial nations repeated their call for China and other emerging economies to increase the flexibility of their currency exchange rates.

19.09.2006 - The role of capital introductions in the growth of the hedge fund industry
The Hedge Fund Industry has topped USD 1 trillion, with some studies suggesting there is approximately USD 1.15 trillion in assets globally (Source: Tremont Asset Flows Report, First Quarter 2006). Ferrel Daste, Director, Deutsche Bank Hedge Fund Capital Group,examines the role of capital introductions in that growth…

19.09.2006 - Commodity investors turn their back on indexes
Money flows into commodities continue at a high level, but investors are shunting their money into more sophisticated products like structured notes to the detriment of indexes, Barclays Capital said. The bank said in a weekly commodity investor report that commodity linked notes had gained in popularity this year due to increased volatility and the more diverse performance of many commodities.

19.09.2006 - Funds only small fry in commodity bull run
Commodity markets are still dominated by consumers and producers, and the idea that investment funds alone have driven the bull run in recent few years is overstated, a fund manager told Reuters on Monday. Most analysts agree that demand for commodity investments has been based on firm foundations -- strong demand from emerging market economies and expectations of supply shortages.

20.09.2006 - Goldman admits loss from Amaranth
Shockwaves from the Amaranth Advisors disaster reached the London offices of Goldman Sachs yesterday — the bank admitted that it sank USD 25 million (GBP 13 million) of client money into the hedge fund just weeks before its disastrous punt on gas prices. As hedge fund consultants said Amaranth would struggle to keep clients after the debacle, Goldman alerted investors in its new trust Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities (GSDO). London-listed GSDO raised USD 507 million in July, promising to invest proceeds in promising hedge funds. Yesterday it revealed that it had put 5 per cent of the money in Amaranth. It said its overall return in September could be hit by 2.5 to 3 per cent. That implied it reckons it has lost USD 12.5 million to USD 15 million in Amaranth.

20.09.2006 - Fed leaves rates on hold at 5.25%
The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent, as expected, amid housing market weakness and signs of easing inflation.

20.09.2006 - CBOT Expands Availability of Gold & Silver Options to Open Auction Market
The CBOT announced today that it plans to expand the availability of its options on Full-sized Gold and Silver futures by listing the contract on its open auction trading platform.

20.09.2006 - Hedge funds move to block Refco plan
A group of hedge funds that bet on a big payoff from investments they made in commodities brokerage Refco Inc moved Wednesday to prevent the bankrupt company from paying off a USD 642 million loan. The hedge funds, including JMB Capital Partners and Lonestar Capital Management LLC, hold more than 25 percent of Refco's stock. Much of that stock was purchased after Refco tumbled into bankruptcy in October 2005, according to documents filed with the US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

22.09.2006 - Dollar sets new 2-week lows on speculation rates have peaked
The dollar slid to fresh two-week lows against most major currencies Friday, continuing its downward trend after an unexpectedly weak manufacturing report raised concerns that interest rates in the U.S. have peaked and may even decrease soon.

22.09.2006 - Top Market Movers: EURAUD, AUDCAD, AUDUSD
Currency Daily Percentage Change (%) Intraday High Intraday Low Day's Range (pips) EURAUD +0.9% 1.7078 1.6861 217 AUDCAD -0.9% 0.8494 0.8363 131 AUDUSD...

22.09.2006 - Crude sinks towards $60 level
Crude oil threatened to sink below the $60 a barrel level this week for the first time in six months, continuing a retreat in which prices have fallen more than 20 per cent since early August

22.09.2006 - Hands-on investor: Is Wall Street about to get active?
The trend in exchange-traded funds is: the more specialised the better. Almost every week flashy new products arrive that give investors an opportunity to back those hard-to-access asset classes. They are designed to track indices that only came into existence to allow someone to launch an ETF.

24.09.2006 - Amaranth founder says market turned against hedge fund
The founder of Amaranth Advisors LLC, Nick Maounis, told investors in a conference call Friday that the markets turned against the hedge fund in September, leaving it no choice but to sell its entire energy portfolio to other firms at a huge loss.

24.09.2006 - Hedge-fund regulation impractical, unnecessary
In the investing world, it can be a short three-step walk from problem to new regulation. First, a problem is uncovered. Next, "victims" or "losers" are identified. Then, regulations and legal remedies are proposed.

25.09.2006 - CBOT Expands Availability of Gold & Silver Options to Open Auction Market
The CBOT announced today that it plans to expand the availability of its options on Full-sized Gold and Silver futures by listing the contract on its open auction trading platform.

25.09.2006 - Amaranth energy trades leveraged five times in May
Amaranth Advisors LLC, the hedge-fund firm that lost roughly USD 6 billion earlier this month, had more than half its capital in energy and commodity trades at the end of May and its energy portfolio was leveraged more than five times, according to investor updates obtained by MarketWatch. The Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm also was hiring new energy traders at the time, according to the letter. Amaranth, a multistrategy hedge fund that had assets of USD 9.2 billion at the end of August, lost USD 6 billion earlier this month after massive natural-gas bets went awry.

25.09.2006 - Commodities undervalued by 30 per cent
The oil price might have fallen almost 25 percent from its peak, but the commodities sector as a whole is undervalued by around 30 per cent -- giving further opportunity for growth -- according to one fund manager. Ian Henderson, manager of JP Morgan Natural Resources -- the top-performing fund in the IMA All Companies sector over the past five years according to Trustnet data -- told Reuters commodities are trading at a "very substantial discount to the broader market at large".

26.09.2006 - ETF Securities lists Exchange Traded Commodities
ETF Securities Ltd has listed 29 separate Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs) on the London Stock Exchange. The 29 ETCs are comprised of 19 individual securities and 10 index securities. This ETF Securities launch gives investors access to more individual commodities on a single exchange than any other world exchange.

27.09.2006 - LMEminis to launch on 20 November 2006
The London Metal Exchange (LME) has confirmed that LMEmini contracts for copper, aluminium and zinc will launch on 20 November 2006.

28.09.2006 - US wheat futures at 9-year high
US wheat futures struck a nine-year high on Thursday after the International Grains Council cut its forecast for global wheat production

28.09.2006 - Hedge funds home in on housing
Growing numbers of hedge funds have placed bets on a slump in the US housing sector in recent weeks, weakening a key index tied to the performance of subprime mortgages, according to dealers.

28.09.2006 - Credit derivatives efficiency drive stepped up
Global financial regulators and industry groups stepped up efforts to boost efficiency in credit derivatives trading, unveiling a proposal to streamline settlement of the instruments.

29.09.2006 - Has Gold Lost its Luster?
Gold rose significantly last week, notching its biggest gain since July, as the dollar weakened against the euro and jewelers from India increased purchases ahead of the country's wedding season. Gold rallied 2.1 percent after reaching an 11-week low on September 15, 2006, amid sustained dollar weakness. December gold futures have been volatile recently, retracing some of last week's gains and now trading around $600 per ounce.

29.09.2006 - The end of oil's stunning ride
The energy crisis is over. You just might not be that happy with the ending.

29.09.2006 - Some Amaranth investors sold their stakes this week, person says
Several investors in Amaranth Advisors LLC have sold their stakes in the troubled hedge fund at deep discounts this week via Hedgebay, according to a person familiar with the situation.

30.09.2006 - Tankan to Decide the Fate of the Yen
Mixed Japanese economic data released overnight has led to a sell-off in the Japanese Yen against non-commodity currencies. Both industrial production and household spending came out short of expectations, but consumer prices accelerated from the previous month.

30.09.2006 - Hedge fund interest in commodities 'growing'
Energy and metal prices have had a significant correction since they reached their record or long-term peaks earlier this year but talk of a prolonged downturn may be premature.