futures market

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Bitcoin Futures Surge After Debut on Major Exchange

Trading began in Chicago on Sunday night

(Newser) - The first-ever bitcoin future jumped after it began trading Sunday as the increasingly popular virtual currency made its debut on a major US exchange. The futures contract that expires in January surged more than $3,000 to $18,010 four hours after trading launched on the Chicago Board Options Exchange,...

'Roar' of Vaunted Trading Pits Fades Today

Most NY, Chicago futures pits to close for good

(Newser) - Pete Meegan had every intention of going back to college, but then he got a summer job in the Chicago trading pits and fell in love with the "roar" of the floor, the excitement of "4,000 people yelling, 'Buy! Buy! Buy!'" That roar will...

Suicide Attempt Prompts Broker Fraud Investigation

PFGBest freezes customer accounts

(Newser) - Midsize futures brokerage PFGBest has frozen its customer accounts, after its founder attempted to kill himself—and left a suicide note hinting at financial irregularities. Russell Wasendorf, a 40-year industry veteran, was found in his car outside the company's headquarters yesterday, and is currently in critical condition at a...

Feds Sue Big Oil Traders for Goosing Prices

Regulators say they scored $50M by manipulating '08 spike

(Newser) - Federal regulators have charged a pair of big-time traders and their firms with illegally manipulating oil prices during the 2008 oil crisis. According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the firms made $50 million in “unlawful profits” by hoarding nearly two-thirds of the oil available in one major US...

GDP Grows 2% in 3Q
 GDP Grows 2% in Q3 

GDP Grows 2% in Q3

Growth fits economists' predictions

(Newser) - The economy grew slightly faster over the summer as Americans spent a little more freely: The GDP grew at a 2% rate during the third quarter, in line with what economists had forecast. It marks a slight improvement over last quarter, when the GDP grew at a 1.7% rate....

Trading Locked After Dow Futures Plunge 550

Dow, S&P, Nasdaq all head for red at opening bell

(Newser) - US stock futures plunged this morning, with trading in Dow and S&P futures locked after both fell more than 6% in early-hours trading. Dow futures fell 550 points to 8824, while the S&P fell 60 to 855.2—hitting the limit that each can decline in one trading...

Global Stocks Surge on Credit-Market Moves

New Treasury plans also boost market

(Newser) - World stocks jumped today on government measures to stop the credit-market meltdown and news that the US and the UK were getting tough on short sellers, Bloomberg reports. Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse climbed 15% after four days of decline in Europe, while Australia’s Macquarie surged 38% after the...

Lehman Crash Triggers Global Market Tumble

US futures and dollar sink: 'It's mayhem'

(Newser) - Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy, along with news that mammoth insurer AIG is seeking a $40 billion Federal Reserve loan, has sent European and Asian markets, US futures and the dollar sharply downward, Bloomberg reports. Swiss-based UBS AG, Europe’s bank most hurt by the subprime crisis, plunged 7.2%. Australia’s...

Stocks Rally Strong on Fannie, Freddie Takeover

Europe, Japan, US futures see market surge

(Newser) - European and Japanese stocks saw their biggest surge since January and US futures climbed amid news of the Treasury Department’s plan to take charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Bloomberg reports. Europe's UBS AG, pounded by subprime losses, and Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group, its biggest bank by...

Feds Hunt for Scams in Crude Oil Trading

Speculators may be driving up crude by manipulation

(Newser) - Federal regulators are investigating whether rocketing oil prices are being driven up by speculators manipulating futures markets, reports the Wall Street Journal. The nationwide probe involves several separate investigations. Authorities suspect that a widely used price reporting system may be artificially influenced and that some oil storage facilities may be...

Oil Tops $130
 Oil Tops $130 

Oil Tops $130

Supply concerns drive crude

(Newser) - Oil set yet another record today, with prices hitting $130.47 a barrel in electronic trading in Asia and Europe, the AP reports, on supply concerns and renewed worries about the dollar. Crude closed at $128.98 in the last New York Mercantile Exchange session. Oil futures have roughly doubled...

Congress Turns on Speculators in Oil Bubble

Legislators push regulation in effort to slow gushing prices

(Newser) - It’s not OPEC pulling oil prices to ever greater-heights—it’s speculators. That’s the theory behind the Consumer-First Energy Act, a bill sponsored by Senate Democrats aimed at clamping down on runaway oil futures trading. As stocks fall, investors are fleeing to commodities, especially oil. But even the...

Traders Bet On McCain vs. Obama
Traders Bet
On McCain
vs. Obama

Traders Bet On McCain vs. Obama

Frontrunners look like primary winners in prediction markets

(Newser) - Traders in online prediction markets are betting on Barack Obama and John McCain as the winners in their respective primaries today. The Intrade and Iowa Electronic futures markets let traders wager real money on outcomes political and otherwise; both markets give Obama's chances for winning the nomination as almost 80%,...

Oil Flirts With Record-High $104
Oil Flirts With Record-High $104

Oil Flirts With Record-High $104

Passes inflation-adjusted all-time peak

(Newser) - As oil soared to nearly $104 a barrel today, it set an all-time, inflation-adjusted record, surpassing even the height of the oil crises of the '70s and '80s, the New York Times reports. Futures touched $103.95 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, beating out the April 1980 record of...

Rogue Trader Says SocGen Looked the Other Way

Kerviel says he was up $2B at the end of 2007

(Newser) - Jérôme Kerviel, the trader at the root of the $7.1 billion scandal roiling French banking giant Société Générale, says his bosses knew what he was up to, and they didn't stop him as long as he was generating huge profits—$2 billion by the...

Europe Sees Biggest Stock Plunge Since 9/11

US futures drop, adding to fears for domestic markets

(Newser) - Amid continuing concerns about a US recession, European stocks took their biggest single-day plunge since 9/11 today, reports MarketWatch. Losses from financial institutions appeared to be the biggest culprit in the day's 5.4% drop, which added to a crippling trend: The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index has dropped 23%...

Traders Gamble on $200 Oil
Traders Gamble on $200 Oil

Traders Gamble on $200 Oil

Did you think $100 was high?

(Newser) - You thought $100 a barrel was high. Options to buy oil for $200 a barrel have grown tenfold on the Nymex exchange in recent weeks, Bloomberg reports. Speculators use oil futures to bet on expected price hikes. While $200-a-barrel options remain only a small proportion of the total, the number...

World Markets Climb After Countrywide Stock Sale

US futures also up as worries cool

(Newser) - Markets climbed worldwide after Bank of America invested $2 billion in Countrywide, giving the mortgage lender a desperately needed injection of cash and proving some appetite is left as subprime mortgages continue to rot. Barclays in the U.K., Mitsubishi in Japan, and Countrywide itself in Europe all saw major...

Mercantile Merger Creates Super Market

Chicago exchanges combine in $12B deal

(Newser) - Chicago's Board of Trade and the Mercantile Exchange—bitter rivals for decades—will merge to form the world's largest derivatives market in a deal worth close to $12 billion, the Chicago Tribune reports. The merger ends months of jockeying and speculation as another suitor, Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange, failed to mount...

19 Stories