1.6.2007 - NY crude's out of whack, but is it undervalued?
The crude market may be trying to tell us something, and here's the biggest hint: The price difference between crude traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the IntercontinentalExchange has touched its widest level ever. Despite concerns over tight-gasoline supplies and production uncertainties related to the Middle East and Nigeria, crude futures on Nymex fell almost 5% during the month of May, with the July contract unable to climb past $68 a barrel. But prices for July Brent crude climbed as high as $71.80 that month.

1.6.2007 - CBOT Achieves All-Time Record for Total Monthly Volume
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) today announced that total volume for May 2007 was 92,312,946 contracts, establishing a new record for total Exchange volume and exceeding total volume from May 2006 by 16 percent.

1.6.2007 - Dollar rises to four-month high vs. yen; Canadian dollar surges
The dollar rose to an almost four-month peak against the yen and a seven-week high vs. the euro Friday, after reports showed stronger jobs growth and manufacturing activity in the U.S., stoking speculation the Federal Reserve will have to keep interest rates high.

1.6.2007 - Gold jumps to two-week high
Prices climb after the European Central Bank said it did not plan to sell any more gold this year; other metals follow.

1.6.2007 - Oil slips but fears grow over stock levels
Oil prices retreated this week but the state of the US gasoline market remains a concern to traders at the start of the summer driving season.

4.6.2007 - Papasavvas of Investec Expects Yen to Fall Versus Dollar, Euro   Video news
Thanos Papasavvas, head of currency management at Investec Asset Management, talks with Bloomberg's Rishaad Salamat in London about the outlook for global interest rates, yen carry trades and the exchange rates of the dollar and euro. The dollar today traded near the highest against the yen in more than four months before a U.S. report tomorrow that will probably show service industries expanded.

4.6.2007 - Why separately managed accounts outperform mutual funds
Separate accounts are one of the best-kept secrets in America. They're cheaper than hedge funds and offer higher, potentially safer returns than traditional mutual funds. It's worth the separate management fee. Indeed, with all the attention to so-called hidden fees (in a world of full disclosure, nothing is hidden) along with expensive and unnecessary management fees, you'd think that costs were the only issue in investing decisions. That's blatantly wrong. Added investment value and increased portfolio safety are more important.

6.6.2007 - Singapore lists crude palm oil futures
The Singapore Exchange takes on Bursa Malaysia with the launch of crude palm oil futures that are dollar-denominated.

6.6.2007 - NYSE signals interest in possible futures deal
Signaling its possible interest in acquiring a futures exchange, the New York Stock Exchange's parent said staking out a large position in the U.S. futures market would likely require an acquisition.

6.6.2007 - Australian dollar hits 17-year high on robust GDP data
Australia's economy grew at a faster-than-expected 1.6% in the three months ending March 31 from the previous quarter, spurring the nation's currency to its highest level in 17 years against the U.S. dollar Wednesday on expectations the central bank will lift interest rates to cool inflation.

6.6.2006 - CBOT says ICE merger would put exchange at risk
The risks to the Chicago Board of Trade's futures trading business from a proposed takeover by IntercontinentalExchange Inc. could be catastrophic, given the hostile bidder's current technology, officials at parent CBOT Holdings Inc. told members on Wednesday.

7.6.2007 - LME intervenes in nickel market
The London Metal Exchange has intervened in the nickel market amid suspected collusion at a time of soaring prices and critically low stock levels.

7.6.2007 - Hedge funds slam Bear over subprime losses: report
Hedge fund managers are accusing Bear Stearns Cos. of trying to manipulate the market in securities based on subprime mortgages, the Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition.

7.6.2007 - Amaranth files motion to dismiss pension fund lawsuit
Amaranth Advisors LLC filed a motion on Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit by a San Diego pension fund that lost millions of dollars when the giant hedge fund collapsed last year.

8.6.2007 - CME Achieves Second Highest Volume Day Ever
CME announced that on Thursday, June 07, 2007, 13,166,646 futures and options on futures contracts, traded* making it the exchange's second busiest day.

8.6.2007 - Dollar Index jumps to 2-month high on higher yields, trade data
The dollar rallied across the board Friday, touching a two-month high against the euro, as higher bond yields increased the appeal of assets denominated in the U.S. currency.

8.6.2007 - Gold tumbles, as dollar rallies, crude falls
Prices climb after the European Central Bank said it did not plan to sell any more gold this year; other metals follow.

8.6.2007 - FX Radio: US Dollar Awaits Busy Week, Is USDCAD Ready to Turn?   Audio news
US economic calendar could lead to a volatile week for the US dollar. USDCAD holding near lows - will it turn higher or will Loonie continue to rally? SNB and BOJ policy meetings on tap - can it put a dent in the carry trade?

11.6.2007 - NYMEX Sets Daily Volume Records for Heating Oil Futures, CME Globex
NYMEX Sets Daily Volume Records for Heating Oil Futures, CME Globex

11.6.2007 - Metals under pressure as risk aversion rises
Metals prices came under pressure as rising bond yields sparked an increase in risk aversion among investors while crude oil prices retreated below $71 a barrel.

11.6.2006 - Feds approve CBOT-CME deal
The Justice Department gave antitrust approval to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc.'s proposed purchase of fellow futures exchange CBOT Holdings Inc., saying it was not "likely to reduce competition substantially."

11.6.2007 - BNP Paribas, Winterflood Securities to launch structured products
BNP Paribas has teamed up with Winterflood Securities to launch two structured products, including one linked to an agricultural index. Slated for 21 June launch, BNP Paribas Agrinvest offers investors 100% capital protection and provides 130% exposure to the DCI Agriculture BNP Paribas Enhanced index over a six year period. The Euro High Income portfolio, which uses the same investment strategy as BNP's £GBP37m High Income and GBP101m US High Income, targets an annual yield of 7.5%.

11.6.2007 - OTC derivatives to reach USD550trn by 2008, says Celent
Over-the-counter derivatives will exceed the USD550trn mark in 2008, up from USD375trn at the end of 2006, according to a new report from Celent, a research and consulting firm that focuses on the application of information technology in the global financial services industry.

13.6.2007 - Elmer of Citigroup Expects `Great Deal of Yen Weakness'   Video news
Todd Elmer, a currency strategist at Citigroup Global Markets Inc., talks with Bloomberg's Eugene Otani from New York about the outlook for the U.S. dollar, yen, so-called carry trades and possible Chinese reactions to legislation introduced by four U.S. senators that would allow American companies to petition for steeper anti-dumping duties on China to counter the benefit of any undervalued currencies in China or other countries.

13.6.2007 - Gas prices set to surge anew
Supply concerns continue to plague the energy markets, pointing again to higher prices at the pump.

14.6.2007 - Nymex to launch Russian commodities exchange
The New York Mercantile Exchange has signed an agreement to establish a commodities exchange in St Petersburg in a fresh push for oil price transparency. The US-based energy exchange signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia's economic ministry and the city of St Petersburg on Friday to develop a futures exchange for Russian export blend of crude oil instruments, reports Reuters. The new bourse should start trading refined products from October this year, with Rebco contracts likely to trade from the second half of 2008, according to economy minister German Gref.

15.6.2007 - Crude futures close at $68, up 5% for the week
July crude climbed 35 cents to close at $68 a barrel Friday, marking its strongest closing level since April 13. The contract scored a gain of $3.24 for the week, finding support from a slowdown in U.S. refinery activity and violence in the Middle East and Nigeria. July reformulated gasoline rose 1.6% to end at a three-week high of $2.2601 a gallon, up 6.3% for the week. July natural gas closed at $7.918 per million British thermal units, up 1.4% for the day, and up 3.3% for the week.

15.6.2007 - Australian Dollar Breaks 0.8400 On Commodity Price Gains
Despite a sparse economic calendar, the combination of a pick up in commodity prices and soft US inflation data helped spur a strong Australian dollar...

17.6.2007 - Oil demand 'rising faster than expected'
The International Energy Agency, the rich countries' energy watchdog, warned of growing tightness in oil supplies in the second half of the year, and urged the Organisation of the Petrolem Exporting Countries to raise its output.

17.6.2007 - Nymex up after report of possible buy-out
The Chicago Board of Trade will not disclose plans for its metals business before consummating a merger with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

17.6.2007 - Steel to trade on LME from next April
Trading in steel contracts will start on the London Metal Exchange from next April.

20.6.2007 - A Closed Form Approach to the Valuation and Hedging of Basket and Spread Option
The lognormal diffusion model for the returns on the underlying asset is a key assumption of Black-Scholes and many other derivatives models. One advantage of the lognormal is that it is impossible for the price to become negative in the model; another is that asset prices exhibit positive skewness, as is apparent in real world securities.

20.6.2007 - Citi set to raise USD2bn energy hedge funds
Citi is seeking to raise up to $2bn (€1.5bn) for two new hedge funds that will be managed by the US bank's energy trading subsidiary, Phibro.

20.6.2007 - Sun shines again on weather derivatives
Many assumed that weather derivatives had disappeared with Enron, and that these financial instruments were but a byproduct of those over-exuberant days. But weather is rapidly becoming the centre of the one of the most attractive sectors in the financial markets. Increasing volatility in the weather is helping to fuel the trading of related derivatives, or futures contracts that allow investors to bet on or hedge against fluctuations in the weather.

21.6.2007 - Man Group sets price range for US unit IPO
Man Group, the world's biggest listed hedge fund firm, said on Thursday it had set the indicative price range for the initial public offering of its US brokerage business at USD36 to USD39 a share. This would imply an equity value for Man's (EMG.L) MF Global of between USD4.6 billion and USD5 billion (GBP2.3 billion and GBP2.5 billion), Man said in a statement. Man announced in March that it intended to demerge its US brokerage unit, saying the business had started to have "a separate, stand-alone identity of its own".

22.6.2007 - ETF Securities reaches USD1bn investment milestone
ETF Securities, which has just launched its precious metals investment platform in Italy, has announced that its range of exchange-traded commodities has attracted more than USD1bn in investment, most of it since the beginning of this year.

22.6.2007 - Oil rises above $70 amid Nigeria concerns
Commodity markets saw volatile trading this week with oil and wheat prices experiencing sharp swings while base metals displayed resilience in spite of a rise in risk aversion.

25.6.2007 - Oil demand 'rising faster than expected'
Private equity funds, always on the look out for that next big investment opportunity, are poised to strike gold in the mining industry, according PricewaterhouseCoopers.

25.6.2007 - Weak yen helping carry trades gain new impetus
Yen carry trades have gained new impetus in recent days as stabilising global bond yields and dovish comments from the Bank of Japan have led to fresh weakness in the Japanese currency.

25.6.2007 - Commodities traders fight Mifid extension
Commodity trading groups will on Wednesday hit back at suggestions that they should face tighter regulations and capital requirements inside the European Union as a result of the forthcoming Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid).

25.6.2007 - Senate report details Amaranth fall
U.S. regulators were powerless to stop "excessive speculation" by Amaranth Advisors LLC because the giant hedge fund exploited an unregulated electronic exchange to "dominate" and "distort" natural gas markets in 2006, a U.S. Senate panel said in a report issued Sunday. Before it folded in September after sustaining USD6.4 billion in losses on bad bets on natural gas contracts, Greenwich, Conn.-based Amaranth commanded a massive trading book that at one point included about 40 percent of natural gas futures contracts for delivery in the winter months of 2006-07, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said in a report that details its nine-month probe.

25.6.2007 - CBOT to unveil new credit futures contract
The Chicago Board of Trade is set to launch a new credit derivatives contract on Monday, making it the latest exchange to challenge the dominance of big dealer banks in the booming credit derivatives market. The CBOT's index contract will use five-year default swaps from the 50 most liquid investment-grade companies as reference. The inclusion of US financial groups sets the index apart from others, making it "the most promising structure to date for an exchange to tackle corporate bond credit indices", analysts at Bear Stearns said.

26.6.2007 - ICE begins CBOT proxy battle
IntercontinentalExchange on Monday commenced its proxy battle to block the merger of the Chicago Board of Trade with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, urging CBOT shareholders to vote against the deal. Shareholders of both the CBOT and the Merc are scheduled to vote on the deal on July 9. Although voting has been under way for some time, shareholders are free to change their vote if they choose to do so, and the ICE proxies sent on Monday include voting cards.

26.6.2007 - FRR Begins Currency Manager Search
The €31.3 billion Fonds de Reserve pour les Retraites has launched a search for a new currency manger, Global Pensions reports. Proposals for the currency position must reach FRR by noon on Aug. 3.

27.6.2007 - Aima welcomes Iosco's endorsement of its valuation principles
The Alternative Investment Management Association has expressed its satisfaction that the Consultation Report on the Principles for the Valuation of Hedge Fund Portfolios issued by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions has embraced the key issues raised by Aima's own recent guide to valuation practices.

27.6.2007 - Hexam bullish on commodities for next 10 years
The bull market in commodities will persist for at least another 10 years, fund manager Hexam Capital Partners said on Wednesday. The industrialisation of China and India will remain the key driver of the boom, said John Payne, manager of the Resolution Hexam Global Resources Absolute Return fund.

27.6.2007 - Eurex launches derivatives on three further Stoxx indices
International derivatives exchange Eurex will expand its product range in the area of equity index derivatives with the launch of futures and options on the DJ Euro Stoxx Select Dividend30, DJ Stoxx Large 200 and DJ Stoxx Small 200 indices on July 23. Currently, 40 futures and 44 options are listed on Stoxx indices at Eurex.

27.6.2007 - NYMEX Sets Daily Volume Records for Metals Futures on CME
The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., a subsidiary of NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMX), announced today that it set daily volume records for its silver and platinum futures contracts on the CME Globex electronic trading platform yesterday.

28.6.2007 - Lyxor launches commodities ETFs
Société Générale subsidiary Lyxor AM has launched two commodities ETFs on the LSE, with plans to offer four more products later this year. The two ETFs are linked to the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, and follow the group's launch of three FTSE-linked ETFs last month. Daniel Draper, head of Lyxor ETFs UK, Ireland and Nordic, said the firm would also launch private equity, real estate, alternatives and BRIC emerging markets ETFs later in 2007.

28.6.2007 - Tokyo Commodities Exchange plans 24 hour e-trading
Tokyo Commodities Exchange is planning to introduce 24-hour electronic trading, in an attempt to attract foreign investors and fend off criticism that it is slowing Tokyo's drive to become Asia's leading international financial centre. Mitsuhiro Onosato, Tocom executive director, said the exchange "should provide" round-the-clock electronic trading because "it is more attractive to foreigners and institutional investors". He added that the service would appeal to proprietary traders and Japan's multinational trading houses.

28.6.2007 - Indian School To Start Course On Carbon Markets
The Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow will introduce a 15-hour course on carbon markets in July as India?s main commodity exchanges?Multi-Commodity Exchange and the National Commodity Exchange--are preparing for carbon trading, The WSJ?s LiveMint blog reports.

28.6.2007 - CFTC Chairman Steps Down To Take State Dept Job
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Reuben Jeffery has resigned to take a job at the State Department, the CFTC said on Wednesday. Jeffery, who has served as CFTC chairman since July 2005, will begin serving as Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs on Thursday, the agency said. Fellow commissioner Walter Lukken will become CFTC acting chairman, the agency said.

28.6.2007 - Local government fund plans more commodity exposure
A local government pension fund with assets of eight billion pounds is planning to double its commodity allocation to two per cent over the next 18 months, a conference heard this week. Judy Saunders, chief investment officer at the West Midlands Pension Fund, said the higher investment in commodities was part of a move to cut the fund's benchmark exposure to equities by 10 per cent to 60 per cent over the next 18 months.

29.6.2007 - Liffe To Launch New Short-Term IR Trade Matching Algo
Liffe announced it will launch a new trade matching algorithm for its short term interest rate futures contracts next month. The new algorithm will be implemented for the three-month Sterling (Short Sterling) Futures on Aug. 20 and for the three-month Euro (Euribor) futures and three month Swiss (Euroswiss) futures on Sept. 24. The new algo will add another dimension to trade allocation by considering both the size of resting orders and their relative time of market entry.