LEAD STORIES
Exchanges Plan Mini Contracts Amid Record Share Prices
By Nina Mehta and Nikolaj Gammeltoft, Bloomberg
Exchanges seeking to feed demand for options after trading reached a ninth straight annual record are asking regulators to approve smaller contracts, concerned the highest stock prices on record make some of them too expensive.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL)’s 40 percent gain this year to $568.18 yesterday meant it cost $2,455 to buy a call (AAPL) expiring in June with a strike price of $565, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOG)’s $612.79 share price required a $2,060 investment for one contract giving the right to buy 100 shares at $610 each.
http://jlne.ws/IUyL3o
CBOE eyes tradable Apple volatility product
chicagotribune.com
CBOE Holdings Inc may soon offer trading in security futures based on volatility in Apple Inc and other individual stocks, similar to what it does with some of its exchange-traded fund (ETF) volatility benchmarks, the president of the company said on Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/JghYUl
VIX Smells Greece (VXX, TVIX, VXZ, XVZ, XIV)
Exchanges Plan Mini Contracts Amid Record Share Prices
By Nina Mehta and Nikolaj Gammeltoft, Bloomberg
Exchanges seeking to feed demand for options after trading reached a ninth straight annual record are asking regulators to approve smaller contracts, concerned the highest stock prices on record make some of them too expensive.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL)’s 40 percent gain this year to $568.18 yesterday meant it cost $2,455 to buy a call (AAPL) expiring in June with a strike price of $565, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOG)’s $612.79 share price required a $2,060 investment for one contract giving the right to buy 100 shares at $610 each.
http://jlne.ws/IUyL3o
CBOE eyes tradable Apple volatility product
chicagotribune.com
CBOE Holdings Inc may soon offer trading in security futures based on volatility in Apple Inc and other individual stocks, similar to what it does with some of its exchange-traded fund (ETF) volatility benchmarks, the president of the company said on Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/JghYUl
VIX Smells Greece (VXX, TVIX, VXZ, XVZ, XIV)
Wall Street Sector Selector
VIX ETFs smell the “Greece” as fear dominates the markets
The VIX index and VIX ETFs rose today in fear as investors dumped equities and fled for the hills from a burning Greece and Europe. The new Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has failed to form a coalition government, sparking fears that the runner up party led by Alexis Tsipras will take power and seek to redo terms regarding international aid. If the Greeks fail to pay off interest on loans that mature by 2016 after 30 days from when any party takes power, Greece will default.
http://jlne.ws/Jf9Tky
EXCHANGES
Newsflash - New Daily Record In The Eurex KOSPI Product On 8 May 2012
More Than 525,000 Contracts Traded On A Single Day
http://jlne.ws/JZ44ZZ
New CME CEO doesn't plan widespread fee increases
* CEO says pricing looks "fine" despite sagging volumes
* CBOT wheat contract may share stage with Black Sea -CEO
CHICAGO May 8 (Reuters) - Phupinder Gill, the new chief executive of CME Group, said on Tuesday the massive exchange operator would not try to compensate for sagging trading volumes with widespread fee increases for customers. It was the latest sign that Gill, who took the reins at CME earlier than expected this month, does not plan to significantly change the company's direction.
http://jlne.ws/J0OCIF
NYSE Sees Danger Of Exchanges Becoming 'Showrooms' For Prices
--NYSE CEO Niederauer sees increasing level of trade shifting to private markets
--Off-exchange transactions make up more than 50% of trading in about 1,300 US-listed securities
--Private markets could supplant exchanges in setting prices for stocks, Niederauer says
(Adds comments from NYSE CEO, Convergex executive, background.
By Jacob Bunge Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--U.S. stock exchanges are in danger of becoming "showrooms" for prices in an equities market that's increasingly moving behind closed doors, the head of NYSE Euronext (NYX) warned Tuesday. NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer said the rising volume of stock trades taking place off-exchange resembled challenges faced by bricks-and-mortar retailers from online rivals, and he reiterated calls for regulators to be more vigilant over the trend.
http://jlne.ws/JZ48c1
NYSE Euronext Scrutinizing Portfolio In Bid To Cut Costs -COO
By Jacob Bunge Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NYSE Euronext (NYX) is reviewing a list of about 25 investments and ventures, weighing the sale or closure of several efforts as the transatlantic exchange operator works to cut $250 million in annual costs by 2014. The Big Board parent has already unwound a handful of projects and several more are on "the watch list," according to Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Leibowitz, who is helping lead the cost-cutting program.
"We do a regular review of our investment portfolio," Leibowitz told investors at a presentation Wednesday. These include joint ventures, organic growth projects and investments in other companies and exchanges, he said. NYSE Euronext aims to clamp down on spending as the company grapples with a slowdown in trading on both sides of the Atlantic that has spanned both derivatives and stocks, while charting a path forward from its failed merger with Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG (DBOEF, DB1.XE).
http://jlne.ws/Kbh3ZN
TECHNOLOGY
GFI Group Releases Latest Generation Fenics Professional
FENICS Professional™ 12.2 brings increased efficiencies to trading and sales workflowNew York, May 9, 2012 – GFI Group announced today the release of FENICS Professional™ version 12.2, a new generation of the award winning FX option platform which brings together pricing, distribution, bilateral trading and risk management capabilities for FX options.
http://jlne.ws/K312RU
RTS Announces Global Launch of RTD Tango QUANT
Comprehensive tool enables quantitative traders to design, optimize, analyze and execute fully automated trading strategies on 135+ markets globally
CHICAGO/FRANKFURT/MUMBAI/SINGAPORE, May 9, 2012 – RTS Realtime Systems Group (RTS), a leading global trading solutions provider, today announced the global launch of RTD Tango QUANT, its first product geared toward quantitative traders. RTD Tango QUANT provides a suite of tools for quantitative traders to design, optimize, analyze and execute their fully automated strategies within one platform. Hosted in RTS’ global data centers in key financial centers around the world, the platform integrates the firm’s connectivity and straight-through processing capability to more than 135 exchanges globally, making it the first quantitative offering in the industry with such a broad reach in multiple asset classes.
http://jlne.ws/KbhiEg
STRATEGY
Buy Puts on Gold ETF to Protect From Losses
By STEVEN M. SEARS, Barrons.com
Gold has been a store and a protector of wealth for millennia, which has prompted people all over the world to buy gold coins and bullion. Add to that the phenomenal success of the SPDR Gold Trust (known best by its ticker, GLD), which has burgeoned to become the second-largest exchange-traded fund with over $67 billion in assets, and gold bulls have been rewarded with a decade-plus run.
http://jlne.ws/K37Te0
VIX ETFs smell the “Greece” as fear dominates the markets
The VIX index and VIX ETFs rose today in fear as investors dumped equities and fled for the hills from a burning Greece and Europe. The new Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has failed to form a coalition government, sparking fears that the runner up party led by Alexis Tsipras will take power and seek to redo terms regarding international aid. If the Greeks fail to pay off interest on loans that mature by 2016 after 30 days from when any party takes power, Greece will default.
http://jlne.ws/Jf9Tky
EXCHANGES
Newsflash - New Daily Record In The Eurex KOSPI Product On 8 May 2012
More Than 525,000 Contracts Traded On A Single Day
http://jlne.ws/JZ44ZZ
New CME CEO doesn't plan widespread fee increases
* CEO says pricing looks "fine" despite sagging volumes
* CBOT wheat contract may share stage with Black Sea -CEO
CHICAGO May 8 (Reuters) - Phupinder Gill, the new chief executive of CME Group, said on Tuesday the massive exchange operator would not try to compensate for sagging trading volumes with widespread fee increases for customers. It was the latest sign that Gill, who took the reins at CME earlier than expected this month, does not plan to significantly change the company's direction.
http://jlne.ws/J0OCIF
NYSE Sees Danger Of Exchanges Becoming 'Showrooms' For Prices
--NYSE CEO Niederauer sees increasing level of trade shifting to private markets
--Off-exchange transactions make up more than 50% of trading in about 1,300 US-listed securities
--Private markets could supplant exchanges in setting prices for stocks, Niederauer says
(Adds comments from NYSE CEO, Convergex executive, background.
By Jacob Bunge Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--U.S. stock exchanges are in danger of becoming "showrooms" for prices in an equities market that's increasingly moving behind closed doors, the head of NYSE Euronext (NYX) warned Tuesday. NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer said the rising volume of stock trades taking place off-exchange resembled challenges faced by bricks-and-mortar retailers from online rivals, and he reiterated calls for regulators to be more vigilant over the trend.
http://jlne.ws/JZ48c1
NYSE Euronext Scrutinizing Portfolio In Bid To Cut Costs -COO
By Jacob Bunge Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NYSE Euronext (NYX) is reviewing a list of about 25 investments and ventures, weighing the sale or closure of several efforts as the transatlantic exchange operator works to cut $250 million in annual costs by 2014. The Big Board parent has already unwound a handful of projects and several more are on "the watch list," according to Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Leibowitz, who is helping lead the cost-cutting program.
"We do a regular review of our investment portfolio," Leibowitz told investors at a presentation Wednesday. These include joint ventures, organic growth projects and investments in other companies and exchanges, he said. NYSE Euronext aims to clamp down on spending as the company grapples with a slowdown in trading on both sides of the Atlantic that has spanned both derivatives and stocks, while charting a path forward from its failed merger with Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG (DBOEF, DB1.XE).
http://jlne.ws/Kbh3ZN
TECHNOLOGY
GFI Group Releases Latest Generation Fenics Professional
FENICS Professional™ 12.2 brings increased efficiencies to trading and sales workflowNew York, May 9, 2012 – GFI Group announced today the release of FENICS Professional™ version 12.2, a new generation of the award winning FX option platform which brings together pricing, distribution, bilateral trading and risk management capabilities for FX options.
http://jlne.ws/K312RU
RTS Announces Global Launch of RTD Tango QUANT
Comprehensive tool enables quantitative traders to design, optimize, analyze and execute fully automated trading strategies on 135+ markets globally
CHICAGO/FRANKFURT/MUMBAI/SINGAPORE, May 9, 2012 – RTS Realtime Systems Group (RTS), a leading global trading solutions provider, today announced the global launch of RTD Tango QUANT, its first product geared toward quantitative traders. RTD Tango QUANT provides a suite of tools for quantitative traders to design, optimize, analyze and execute their fully automated strategies within one platform. Hosted in RTS’ global data centers in key financial centers around the world, the platform integrates the firm’s connectivity and straight-through processing capability to more than 135 exchanges globally, making it the first quantitative offering in the industry with such a broad reach in multiple asset classes.
http://jlne.ws/KbhiEg
STRATEGY
Buy Puts on Gold ETF to Protect From Losses
By STEVEN M. SEARS, Barrons.com
Gold has been a store and a protector of wealth for millennia, which has prompted people all over the world to buy gold coins and bullion. Add to that the phenomenal success of the SPDR Gold Trust (known best by its ticker, GLD), which has burgeoned to become the second-largest exchange-traded fund with over $67 billion in assets, and gold bulls have been rewarded with a decade-plus run.
http://jlne.ws/K37Te0
