01.4.2007 - Futures to surpass bonds as appetite for risk rises
Treasury futures, the most-active contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade, may surpass trading in notes and bonds for the first time next year as money managers use more derivatives to boost returns. A record 60.5 million contracts changed hands in February, the equivalent of USD6.62 trillion of Treasuries. Wall Street's biggest firms handled about USD9.57 trillion of bonds, according to Federal Reserve data. Futures more than doubled in the past five years and, at the current pace, will overtake trading in the cash securities during 2008.

2.4.2007 - Mining fund to buy shares and sell metal
A new resources hedge fund aims to pick undervalued explorers and small-scale miners rather than piggyback on rising metal prices, its managers said. An unusual feature of the Blackfish-Investec Resources Special Situations fund is that it will offset the risk of lower metal prices hurting shares, by "shorting" commodities -- betting that prices will in fact fall. "What we are not looking to do is establish a fund that's going to go up or down in sympathy with the underlying commodity price -- there are enough of those already," Martyn Konig, chief executive of London-based Blackfish Capital Management told Reuters in an interview.

2.4.2007 - FXMarketSpace launches first centrally-cleared foreign exchange platform
FXMarketSpace, the world's first centrally-cleared, global foreign exchange platform for the over-the-counter market, is fully operational and open for trading, less than 11 months after Reuters and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced its establishment last May.

3.4.2007 - EU mutual funds seek to emulate hedge funds
European mutual funds may be able to give ordinary investors a taste of hedge fund returns, if their managers convince regulators to let them buy derivatives of hedge fund indexes. Indexes linked to hedge funds' performance, which were ruled unsuitable for mutual funds last year, are increasingly standard financial indicators, fund industry representatives argued Monday at a hearing before the Committee of European Securities Regulators in Paris. Support from regulators would let European Union-regulated funds put some of their EUR5.5 trillion, or USD7.3 trillion, of assets into derivatives tracking the indexes. The shift would open another avenue for so-called retail investors to share in the gains of hedge funds.

3.4.2007 - Insurers demand wider use of derivatives
Insurers have demanded the power to use derivatives in unit-linked funds after a regulatory consultation paper stopped short of offering life funds the same freedom open to other collectives. The Financial Services Authority's proposals for an overhaul of the permitted links for life funds could see them able to take positions in property funds and take bigger positions in unlisted equities. But this does not satisfy insurers who are restricted to using derivatives for efficient portfolio management. Under the proposed rules unit-linked insurance funds, which hold more than L650 billion, will be allowed to invest in property funds for the first time. REITs will also be allowed as they are treated as listed investment trusts.

3.4.2007 - Market Insight: Soya and corn fight for space
The response by US farmers to recent high corn prices is seen by analysts as sufficient to satisfy ethanol demand, the needs from the food and feed industries and to boost grain stockpiles. But with speculative money pouring into grain futures, there is more money at stake than ever before.

3.4.2007 - NYSE and Euronext to close on transatlantic combination
A major step in John Thain's dream of a global exchange will come to pass Wednesday as the parent of New York Stock Exchange closes its merger with Euronext.

3.4.2007 - Fund managers may drive credit futures
Pension funds and asset managers are more likely supporters of exchange-traded credit futures than investment banks, which have shunned the nascent market since its launch last week, according to a survey. A client questionnaire by Merrill Lynch shows 80 percent of investors plan to trade credit futures in the coming months, with levels of enthusiasm said to be high. That contrasts starkly with the wholesale banking community, which has been conspicuous by its absence in the market's first few days of trading.

4.4.2007 - The futures of real estate
US brokers and exchanges are close to breaching an impasse that has prevented property derivatives from being widely available here, a step likely to be welcomed by increasingly jittery real estate investors. While investors in nearly all other major asset classes enjoy the utility of a derivatives market, often to hedge their risk, those in fragmented and opaque US real estate markets largely have not. But access to real estate indexes is adding US commercial and residential property ownership to the list of items, from companies' debtworthiness to the weather, that investors can speculate on through listed and over-the-counter markets.

4.4.2006 - Gold poised for record run
Gold prices could exceed last year's 26 year high within the next 12 months due to a weaker dollar, rising geopolitical tensions and an investment led rally, according to the annual survey by GFMS, the metals consultancy.

5.4.2007 - Strongest trading month on Eurex
Eurex, the international derivatives exchange, reports that a total of 199 million contracts were traded in March 2007. This is the strongest trading month ever on Eurex, an increase of approximately 34 percent compared with March 2006; the previous record trading month was May 2006 (174 million contracts).

5.4.2007 - Deutsche Börse expands XTF segment on Xtra
Deutsche Börse has further expanded its XTF segment for ETFs on the pan-European Xetra trading platform. Ten new funds from iShares plc were listed by Barclays Global Investors (BGI) in March.

6.4.2007 - Dollar gains as rate cut hopes fade
The dollar rallied on Friday as much stronger-than-forecast US employment data damped expectations of interest rate cuts.

7.4.2007 - Strong demand for metals shows no signs of waning
Metal prices rose strongly this week as concerns about supplies of copper, lead, nickel and tin combined with firm demand from China pushed some metals to record...

10.4.2007 - LSE boosts trade clearing on Russian derivatives service
The London Stock Exchange is expanding the number of securities in its Russian equity derivatives service that are eligible for clearing, in response to growing demand for the clearing of off-exchange trades arranged in the over-the-counter market. In December, the LSE and its joint venture partner in its EDX derivatives service, Nordic exchange OMX, announced the launch of trading in futures and options on Russian stocks and on derivatives of the FTSE Russia International Order Book Index, which is based on the 10 biggest and most liquid Global Depositary Receipts issued by Russian companies. The latest move adds 16 new securities, including five from companies based in Kazakhstan.

10.4.2007 - Copper prices lead rush for metal
Metal markets are in the middle of another price boom that may eclipse the one seen last spring, with copper, nickel, lead and tin all rising strongly in trading.

10.4.2007 - Exchange-traded equity derivatives set to skyrocket, says TABB
The world of investment management is changing with absolute-return strategies, portable alpha, hedge funds and yield enhancement an integral part of the everyday life of traditional portfolio management. According to TABB Group in its newest benchmark industry study, "Exchange-Traded Equity Derivatives: The Buy-side's Increasing Exposure," these changes are creating a seismic shift not only in the way exchange-traded equity derivatives - futures and options - are used but also in who trades them and how they are traded.

10.4.2007 - Survey of consultant search activity reveals that hedge funds will be the focus of attention in 2007, with private equity and real estate close behind
Casey Quirk and eVestment Alliance have unveiled their first annual study of consultant search activity, revealing that more consultants will focus on Hedge Funds than on any other strategy. Over 50% of respondents mentioned Hedge Funds as one of their top search items for 2007.

11.4.2007 - Brazilian currency set to hit fresh peak
The Brazilian real is closing in on the R$2.00 to the US dollar level for the first time since February 2001, in spite of sustained intervention by Brazil's central bank to prevent the currency from strengthening further.

11.4.2007 - Gold, Corn, and Crude on the Move
An overview of a few markets that have made some big recent moves.

11.4.2007 - Hedge funds play the market as uranium goes nuclear
Hedge funds are currently among the biggest players in commodities, especially in the red-hot market for uranium, now an investment sensation because of revived interest in nuclear power. One such fund is US Solios Asset Management, which launched a new uranium fund in September. Last year, hedge funds bought about 25% of the uranium in the market. Uranium's price rise has been phenomenal. It has almost trebled from about USD45 (GBP22, EUR33) per pound in July last year to USD113 per pound this week, according to Trade Tech.

12.4.2006 - CBOT Announces May 14 e-CBOT Launch Date for Mini-sized Ags
The contracts will include mini-sized Corn, mini-sized Soybeans and mini-sized Wheat contracts.

12.4.2007 - Fed chief backs current hedge fund rules
Light regulation of hedge funds has worked well so far and seems appropriate given the benefits the funds provide to the financial system, the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S Bernanke, said yesterday. Speaking at New York University Law School, Bernanke stressed that the purpose of hedge funds was to take risks.

12.4.2007 - Eurex to launch UK products in May
Eurex, the international derivatives exchange, will expand its product portfolio and introduce 17 single stock futures (SSF) - on the Royal Dutch Shell shares and on the 16 sterling denominated components of the Dow Jones STOXX 50 index.

12.4.2007 - Richest hedge fund managers get richer
Five of the wealthiest took home $1 billion or more each as the 100 best-paid managers earned an average $241 million, according to a published report.

13.4.2007 - Crude oil ends down; loses 1% on the week
Crude-oil futures ended a losing week down Friday after having surged 3% in the previous session, though analysts said prices remain supported by U.S. refinery outages and concerns over gasoline supplies.

13.4.2007 - Gold rises, as dollar declines against rivals
Gold futures gained Friday, as the dollar fell against major currencies, boosting demand for the precious metal.

13.4.2007 - American Stock Exchange launches options on Vanguard ETFs
The American Stock Exchange has launched trading in options on four new ETFs launched by Vanguard.

16.4.2007 - Credit Suisse/Tremont hedge fund index is up 1.24% in March
The Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index is up 1.24% in March and up 3.34% for the first quarter of 2007 according to Oliver Schupp, President of the Credit Suisse Index Co, Inc.

16.4.2007 - Hedge fund report draft to be ready for May G7
A report on hedge funds and risk control commissioned by the Group of Seven will be completed by year-end, but a preliminary version will be ready for G7 talks in May, the Italian central banker in charge of it said on Sunday. Mario Draghi, Bank of Italy boss and head of the Financial Stability Forum, a Zurich-headquartered body set up at the G7's request after the Asian financial crises of the 1990s, revealed the timing at a conference in Washington.

16.4.2007 - Nymex to launch first uranium contract
The New York Mercantile Exchange plans to launch next month the first futures contract for uranium amid mounting investor interest in the metal.

16.4.2007 - NYBOT to launch campaign against ICE
A group of New York Board of Trade floor traders is about to launch a publicity campaign to block IntercontinentalExchange's offer for the Chicago Board of Trade, according to a New York Post report. The group -- which includes nearly all of the traders on the NYBOT floor -- are upset over a move by ICE to lift a fee on electronic trading of coffee, sugar, cocoa and other commodities that has helped to preserve floor trading, according to the report. ICE acquired the NYBOT in January for USD1.8 billion.

17.4.2007 - Clarida of Pimco Sees Fed Rate Cut, Continued Dollar Decline
Richard Clarida, global strategic adviser at Pacific Investment Management Co. and professor at Columbia University, talks with Bloomberg's Kathleen Hays in New York about the performance of the U.S. dollar against the euro and the outlook for the U.S. housing market, Treasury yield curve and corporate earnings growth. The dollar approached an all-time low versus the euro and declined against most major currencies as a government report on inflation added to concern the U.S. economy is slowing.

17.4.2007 - CME to Launch Wood Pulp Futures and Options
CME Wood Pulp derivatives will be the only cash-settled pulp futures and options contracts to be based on the PIX NBSKP Europe Index™ by FOEX Indexes Ltd. FOEX is a private Finland-based independent company that specializes in providing audited, trademarked registered pulp and paper price indexes.

18.4.2007 - Natural gas exchange-traded security launched
Victoria Bay Asset Management LLC of Alameda, Calif, announced today the launch of the United States Natural Gas Fund LP (UNG), an exchange-traded security based on natural gas. "UNG intends to invest primarily in those futures contracts that are in the two months closest to expiration because we feel those contracts will permit the fund to best achieve its investment objective," said John Hyland, portfolio manager and director of portfolio research at Victoria Bay, in a statement. Last year, Victoria Bay launched the United States Oil Fund LP, an exchange-traded limited partnership that plans to use futures to invest in oil.

18.4.2007 - Lien of Forex Says Euro to Reach `All-Time Highs' Versus Dollar
Kathy Lien, chief currency strategist at Forex Capital Markets, talks with Bloomberg's Catherine Yang from New York about the outlook for the U.S. dollar, euro, so-called yen carry trades and Lien's currency trading strategy.

18.4.2007 - Germany rebuffed on hedge fund regulation call
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has rejected calls by Germany to increase hedge fund regulation, saying responsible macroeconomic government policies are a better solution. It is being widely reported that Germany, holder of the G-7 presidency this year, is spearheading a broader European push for more oversight of hedge funds amid concerns the USD1.5 trillion industry's recent spate of massive leveraged bets could potentially topple the banks that are lending to them if any of the bets were to go bust. European officials are reported to have said prime brokers such as Goldman Sachs Group have lowered risk standards to profit from fees on loans to hedge funds.

19.4.2006 - ETF Securities to launch five new precious metals backed ETCs on LSE
ETF Securities Ltd, which offers investors access to a range of commodities on multiple exchanges, said it will launch five new precious metals backed exchange traded commodities (ETCs) on the London Stock Exchange next Tuesday. The launch will include a platinum, palladium, silver and gold ETC, as well as an ETC backed by a basket of precious metals, comprising 42 pct gold, 26 pct silver, 20 pct platinum and 12 pct palladium.

19.4.2007 - Derivative trading speeds up
Big derivatives dealers have slashed the processing time for the average trade by cutting errors and increasing automation, according to new data published by the leading industry body.

20.4.2007 - Absolute return attracts record USD60bn in three months
Investors worldwide poured USD60bn (EUR44bn) into hedge funds in the three months to the end of March, taking total capital under management to USD1.57 trillion and setting the asset class on course for a second consecutive record year of new inflows. The USD60bn committed by investors was almost quadruple the USD15bn hedge funds attracted in the previous quarter, and matched the total capital invested over the last six months of 2006, according to data provider Hedge Fund Research.

21.4.2007 - Germany pushes hedge-fund code, challenges US plan
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said the US policy of providing guidelines to hedge funds is "not enough" as he sought European support for them to be subjected to a code of conduct. Germany and the US are at odds over how to toughen oversight of the USD1.5 trillion hedge-fund industry with Steinbrueck pushing a formal code and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson supporting a set of principles that informs investors and leaves them to monitor risk.

21.4.2007 - ICE to launch competitor to Dubai exchange's contract
London's InterContinental Exchange is to launch a contract for Middle Eastern sour crude oil futures to compete with the planned contract that will be traded on the...

23.4.2007 - Norwegian clearing house first to launch salmon futures contracts
NOS Clearing, the Oslo-based clearing house for commodity derivatives and Fish Pool ASA, the Bergen-based seafood futures market, have launched the world's first cleared futures contracts for fresh salmon. This marks a world first for exchange traded seafood futures in the fast growing seafood derivatives market.

23.4.2007 - Performance questions raise concerns over new oil ETFs
Exchange-traded funds and their investors may be straying well outside their comfort zones by wandering into complicated commodities and derivatives markets, judging by concerns swirling around new products designed to track oil prices. The tumult is another warning sign that as ETFs get more complex and target new areas of the market, investors need to understand exactly what they're buying. Some observers have raised serious questions about the pricing and performance of ETF-like instruments billed as giving investors exposure to crude oil. However, backers of these financial products say that returns reflect the reality of a market environment for oil known as "contango," in which longer-dated futures are more expensive than near-month contracts. The ETFs are losing money on the trade, but that's the cost of investing in commodities via futures markets, they say.

24.4.2007 - ABN AMRO launches first fully managed CPDO
ABN AMRO, pioneer of the market's inaugural Constant Proportion Debt Obligation (CPDO) in July last year, has launched the first fully managed and fully rated CPDO, managed by Fortis Investment Management France SS (Fortis Investments).

24.4.2007 - US credit derivatives index nears launch
The long-awaited launch of the first index tracking credit derivatives on US junk-rated loans is expected in a few weeks, according to dealers, more than six months after the debut of a similar index in Europe.

24.4.2007 - Top hedge fund managers' salaries balloon
The high-rolling life of the world's top hedge fund managers just keeps getting better. The latest survey on hedge fund salaries shows that, for the first time, founding executives at three major hedge funds took home well over USD1 billion (GBP500 million) last year. And the average pay for the top 25 hedge fund managers rose a staggering 57 per cent to USD570 million in 2006 from 2005, according to industry publication Alpha Magazine. The magazine, which based its pay scale findings on fund performance, fees and ownership structure, said fund managers benefited from rising global equity markets, adroit investment strategies and fees paid from investors to manage their money.

25.4.2007 - ETF launch for platinum is bad news for jewellery lovers
Investors flowing into the new funds are poised to drive up further the price of the metal.

26.4.2007 - Japan to offer property derivatives in coming years
One of the most senior figures in Japan's property sector has predicted that Japan could have a thriving property derivatives market in a couple of years.

27.4.2007 - Middle east concerns add impetus to oil rise
Crude prices rise strongly as geopolitical risks return to the market after Saudi security forces arrest scores of terrorist suspects involved in plotting attacks on oil facilities.

27.4.2007 - Dollar sinks to record low vs euro
The dollar dropped to a record low against the euro on Friday after the weakest reading of U.S. economic growth in four years suggested the economy could be at danger of falling behind the rest of the world.

27.4.2007 - Treasury to begin reporting cross-border derivatives data
Citing the substantial growth of global derivatives markets in recent years, the Treasury Department said Friday it will begin publishing data about U.S. cross-border derivatives next month.

27.4.2006 - BMO reports big natural gas trading losses
BMO Financial Group, one of the largest banks in Canada, said on Friday that it may lose as much as C$450 million from natural gas trades that went awry, becoming the latest casualty of this unpredictable commodity.

27.4.2007 - Crude futures mark highest close in almost a month
June crude closed at $66.46 a barrel Friday, it's highest closing level since April 2 as reports of a thwarted attack on Saudi oil facilities reminded the market of oil's fragile supply chain. The futures contract finished up $1.40 for the session, and up 3.7% for the week. May reformulated gasoline climbed 7.1 cents to close at an over eight-month high of $2.3613 a gallon. June natural gas ended at $7.831 per million British thermal units, up 4.2% for the week.

29.4.2007 - Burg of NAB Says Oil Prices May Rise Above $70 in Summer
Gerard Burg, an energy and minerals economist at National Australia Bank Ltd., talks with Bloomberg's Catherine Yang from Melbourne about crude oil and gasoline supply and demand, the outlook for production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and potential risks to the oil market.