CME Globex Notices: March 24, 2008

Changes to Instrument Creation (MO) Replay Channels 
Effective this Sunday, March 30, 2008, CME Group will decommission the Instrument Creation (MO) Replay channels 1 and 16 in the production and Certification environments. Channels 1 and 16 have been decommissioned in New Release.

The new MO Replay channels on the Market Data Platform, introduced in November 2007, allow customers to listen only to the MO messages for which they receive market data. With these new channels, every product RLC data channel (e.g., channel 7, Equity futures; channel 8, Equity options, etc.) now has a dedicated MO Replay channel.

Please note, these changes only affect the RLC-format channels. There are no changes to the ITC 2.1-format channels.

The new MO Replay channels are currently available in New Release, Certification and production. The channel definition tables are available online for  Certification and New Release, and for  production.

NYMEX Ethanol Futures
Effective this Sunday, March 30 (trade date Monday, March 31), NYMEX Ethanol futures will be listed for trading on the CME Globex Gasoline futures (Strategy Type Code IS) will also be available.

More details on these new NYMEX products is available from NYMEX Product Marketing at 212.299.2301.

These new instruments are currently available for customer testing in New Release.

Options on Frozen Pork Belly Futures
Effective Sunday, April 27 (trade date Monday, April 28), options on Frozen Pork Belly futures will be listed for trading on the CME Globex platform.

These options will support User-Defined Spreads (UDS) functionality upon launch.

These products will be available for customer testing in New Release and Certification Monday, April 14.

Nonfarm Payroll Futures and Options
Effective Sunday, April 27 (trade date Monday, April 28), CME Group is launching futures and options on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Nonfarm Payroll data exclusively on the CME Globex platform.

These new products will allow customers to directly manage exposure to the government labor number and offset positions in the financial markets.

Please note: these options are eligible for negative strike prices.

More information is available  online.

Nonfarm Payroll futures and options will be available for customer testing in Certification and New Release on Monday, April 14.

Side-by-side Trading for Grain and Oilseed Options
Effective Sunday, April 13 (trade date Monday, April 14), the options on corn, wheat, soybeans, soybean meal, soybean oil, rough rice and oats futures will be available for electronic trading on CME Globex during the open outcry (RTH) trading hours. Currently, these contracts are only available on CME Globex during electronic trading hours (ETH), 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Friday. With this schedule change, these options will also be available on CME Globex 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. CT.

More information is available  online.

Exchange-Defined Spreads for Commodity Options
Effective Sunday, April 13 (trade date Monday, April 14), CME Group will list the following exchange-defined spreads for commodity options on the CME Globex platform.

These new strategies will be available for customer testing in New Release this Monday, March 31.

 Euroyen TIBOR Futures Packs and Bundles Algorithm Indicator Change
Effective Sunday, April 27 (trade date Monday, April 28), the Matching Algorithm Indicator for the Euroyen TIBOR future Packs (Strategy Type Code PK) and Bundles (Strategy Type Code FB) will be modified to read F for FIFO, to match the outright futures and current matching behavior. Currently, the Packs and Bundles show a T.

The Matching Algorithm Indicator can be found in the Instrument Creation (MO) message, position 685.

This change will be implemented in New Release Monday, April 7.

NASDAQ-100 and E-mini NASDAQ-100 Options Strike Range Changes
Effective Sunday, April 27 (trade date Monday, April 28), the strike listing ranges will change for the options on NASDAQ-100® and E-mini NASDAQ-100 futures.

These new strikes will be available for customer testing in New Release Monday, April 14.

 Messaging Policy Q2 Benchmarks
The Q2 2008  Messaging Policy benchmarks will be available online Monday, March 31.

The benchmarks are published quarterly and are based on the per-product Volume Ratios, including the prior quarter's roll trading.

The CME Globex Messaging Policy creates fair business guidelines by which customers are billed a surcharge for overly high message rates. Under the CME Globex Messaging Policy, each clearing member firm (active or inactive clearing member firms which maintain relationships with CME Clearing) must not exceed product-specific benchmarks, tailored to the valid trading strategies of each market. CME Group calculates benchmarks based on a per-product Volume Ratio.