hi- not sure if you saw this with all the crap going on lately or have seen these contracts trading..one of the traders in Calgary called me Friday- one of his clients called asking about this indirectly.. said that he had heard of a $1B fund that was being set up to replicate the index.. the index is 17.7% nat gas (the highest % of any commodity).. the client wondered if that had anything to do with the nat gas rally!  i am trying to find out info on this $1 B fund.. no luck yet.. it would have a nice impact on the market if the fund had to buy 177M of nat gas contracts- 17,700 contracts in first 2 months..look at the 2 websites- www.nybot.com <http://www.nybot.com> (the futures and options) are traded there and the s+p site www.spglobal.com <http://www.spglobal.com>... the way they manage the futures is interesting..

basic weightings: 

energy: 44.29% (natty-17.7, unleaded-9.7%, heat- 12.9, crude-4.12)

grains- 19.28%

meats- 10.98%

metals- 7.96%

softs- 11.98%

fibers- 5.51%

please let me know if you have any info on this.

thanks, c

 

 

S&P and NYBOT Launch New Index Futures and Options Contracts

New York, NY, October 19, 2001 - The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT)
, in partnership with Standard & Poor's, began trading futures contracts this morning on the S&P Commodity Index (SPCI) - a new standard for commodities pricing. Officials from the New York City Mayor's Office for Economic Development as well as NYBOT and Standard & Poor's presided over the launch.

Standard & Poor's, a leading provider of global financial information and investment analysis, and the New York Board of Trade, a global marketplace for alternative investment products, developed the SPCI to bring greater definition to traded commodities as an investable asset class. The SPCI was introduced at a ceremony at NYBOT on August 9, 2001. The SPCI futures and options allow managers and investors to add real diversification to their portfolios through a single, transparent access point to the investment opportunities found in commodity futures markets. 

"The launch of this new product so soon after the events of September 11, and on a trading floor so imaginatively developed before the event, allowing NYBOT to start trading so soon after the loss of its facility in lower Manhattan, is a testament to the strength and the resilience of New Yorkers," said Michael G. Carey, President, New York City Economic Development Corporation. "Let no one doubt that New York is and continues to be the financial and trading capital of the world."

"To contribute successfully to long-term portfolio goals, an alternative asset should have certain key characteristics, namely a proper benchmark, transparency, liquidity, simplicity, cost efficiency and flexible trading capabilities," said NYBOT President and CEO Mark D. Fichtel. "SPCI futures and options are among the few investment instruments that meet all the criteria for a real alternative asset. We believe that these new contracts will prove particularly valuable to investors and managers who need alternative investment strategies in these difficult economic times."

The NYBOT SPCI futures contract lists six active contract months (January, February, April, June, August, November). Expiration is the second Friday of the listed futures contract month, and the contract is cash settled. The futures contract is valued at $100 x the Index (current contract value approximately $100,000). Trading hours initially will be 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (New York Time). Options on futures are also offered (see contract specifications). 

"SPCI futures and options give investors a direct means to obtain exposure to a diversified commodity basket," said Robert Shakotko, Standard & Poor's Managing Director of Index Services. "Investors around the world recognize the S&P reputation for equity indices and index products. We now bring these same business strengths to commodities." 

The SPCI tracks 17 commodities in six sectors including grains, meat and livestock, metals, softs (coffee, sugar, cocoa), fibers, and energy. The index utilizes real-time prices of the relevant futures contracts traded on the commodities futures markets in New York and Chicago. Key features of the SPCI include its geometric calculation methodology and a weighting adjustment that eliminates double counting of upstream and downstream commodities. 

The new SPCI futures and options contracts will support and enhance other index-linked investment products. They offer an easy and efficient way to manage commodity index funds, commodity-linked insurance products, or commodity exposure in multi-asset products. As with its equity indices, Standard & Poor's has initiated a licensing program for the SPCI directed at financial institutions that might use the new commodity index as part of an innovative investment product.

End-of-day index values and index history are available through both the S&P Index Services website at www.spglobal.com <http://www.spglobal.com/indexmaincommodity.html> and NYBOT's Website at www.nybot.com <http://www.nybot.com/>. The SPCI is calculated every 15 seconds and is available through traditional real-time quote vendors via the NYBOT; the ticker symbol will be 'I'. 

Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), provides independent financial information, analytical services, and credit ratings to the world's financial markets. Among the company's many products are the S&P Global 1200, the first real-time, global equity index, the S&P 500, the premier U.S. portfolio index, and credit ratings on more than 220,000 securities and funds worldwide. With more than 5,000 employees located in 18 countries, Standard & Poor's is an integral part of the world's financial architecture. For more information, visit the Standard & Poor's Website at www.standardandpoors.com <http://www.standardandpoors.com/>.

The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) is the parent company of the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange, Inc. (CSCE) and the New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE). Through its two exchanges and their subsidiaries and divisions NYBOT offers an expanding range of agricultural, currency and index products. Information about the New York Board of Trade can be found at www.nybot.com <http://www.nybot.com/>.