U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Visits CME Group U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer visited CME Group on April 15. Schafer, who was appointed to the post in January 2008, toured the agricultural and financial trading floors before the 9:30 a.m. opening of the grains markets. He met with CME Group Executive Chairman Terry Duffy (right) and (from left) Director Christopher Stewart and CME Group Managing Director Robert Ray, to discuss today's pressing topics, ranging from pending legislation to the Columbia Free Trade Agreement and the agriculture markets.
NYSE Euronext to Purchase Metals Complex NYSE Euronext will get more "precious" when it completes the purchase of CME Group's metals complex later this year. Trading of full and E-mini gold and silver futures and options on futures contracts will begin trading on LIFFE CONNECT, NYSE Euronext's derivatives trading system, pending regulatory approvals.
Launched by the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in 2001, precious metals derivatives currently trade on e-cbot, an electronic trading platform that is managed by Atos Euronext Market Solutions and powered by LIFFE CONNECT.
Under terms of the agreement, NYSE Euronext will acquire the CBOT metals complex from CME Group, including its volume and open interest. CBOT will continue to act as the Designated Contract Market (DCM) for the products until NYSE Euronext establishes its own DCM. CME Group has agreed to provide clearing services for up to one year, after which NYSE Euronext will provide for an alternative clearing solution.
A New Source of Information Former CME Group Deputy Chief Information Officer Kevin Kometer has been appointed managing director and chief information officer of CME Group, effective at the end of June. Kometer succeeds James Krause, who will retire following 23 years of service.Kometer, 43, has been with the company 14 years. As managing director and deputy chief information officer, Kometer had primary oversight for the development and quality management of CME Group trading systems for futures and options, both on the trading floor and on the CME Globex electronic trading platform. He also was responsible for leading the migration effort of CBOT products traded on the e-cbot electronic trading platform to CME Globex during the CME/CBOT integration.
Survey Provides Insight on FX Trends Foreign exchange (FX) market participants' growing focus on electronic trading, risk management and cost control is driving the record growth in global FX markets, according to CME Group's Global FX Market Study, conducted by independent research firm ClientKnowledge. Study highlights included:
- Traders expect electronic trading growth to gain momentum faster than previously anticipated. They predicted that more than 80 percent of all cash business, on average, will be executed electronically in 2010.
- About 72 percent of bank survey participants cited counterparty risk as their biggest concern, followed by settlement risk (64 percent).
- Traders also continue to focus on efficient execution, with 79 percent of active traders and 81 percent of real-money traders concerned primarily with bid/offer spreads as the key component of their transaction costs.
- Market impact concerned 59 percent of active and 64 percent of less active traders.
- Settlement costs concerned 49 percent of active traders and 48 percent of less active traders, while - in line with the relatively low number of algorithmic traders - reported fills relative to benchmark prices concerned a mere 23 percent of active traders and 15 percent of real-money traders.
Nonfarm Payroll Futures Launch CME Group launched futures and options on futures on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) nonfarm payroll data, at the end of April. The new products allow customers to directly manage their exposure to the government labor number or to offset positions in financial markets.
Typically the first major economic release of each month, the nonfarm payroll report is closely followed as a way to gauge how the Federal Open Markets Committee perceives economic growth. Each contract is valued at $25 times the change in the nonfarm payroll number from the previous month. One contract will be listed on the Monday after the previous month's release. Trading in the expiring contract concludes at 7:25 a.m. on the day that the BLS releases its nonfarm payroll number from the previous month.
Because employment data is one of the most widely watched set of economic indicators, nonfarm payroll futures and options are the first "economic event" products introduced by CME Group. Economic event futures and options provide the complete price transparency and easy accessibility that customers need.
CME Group Earns Top Honors Ad Campaign, Annual Report and Employee Communications Program Are Winners CME Group is receiving external accolades for many elements of its corporate brand campaign. So far this spring, the company has won the following awards:
The Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals in April awarded its highest honor, the Hermes Platinum Award, to two CME Group initiatives: one for the company's global corporate advertising campaign and one for the CME Group 2007 Annual Report. The Hermes Awards represent an international competition for marketing professionals involved in the conception, writing and design of materials and programs in both traditional and emerging media.
In May, the corporate advertising campaign received a Silver Award at the Business Marketing Association's 25th annual Tower Awards, a prestigious business-to-business marketing and communications competition. BMA is a premier national service organization for marketing professionals that focuses on improving business-to-business marketing communications and related marketing techniques.
The corporate advertising campaign also received an Award of Distinction from the International Academy of the Arts 2008 Communicator Awards. The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program, honoring creative excellence for communications professionals.
CME Group also received in May a Merit Award from the Public Relations Society of America's Chicago chapter for its employee communications program, "The Confidence to Lead" launching the new company and its brand internally. PRSA is the world's largest organization for public relations practitioners.
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