Risk management
Unfinished rules likely to cause continued hedging woes
Post-crisis financial legislation is generating deep uncertainty for industry participants, making life difficult for companies that rely on commodity markets as a vital way of managing their risk
Energy traders seek flexibility in CFTC position limits
Bona fide hedging definition and complexity of position limits worry panellists speaking at Energy Risk Summit USA
Fuel hedgers bemoan bank retrenchment from commodities
Delta Air Lines and World Fuel Services describe impact of Wall Street retreat from commodity markets at Energy Risk Summit USA
Looking back: Nymex moves into ‘classy’ new headquarters
CME Group’s Nymex trading floor is now sparsely populated, but back in 1997, the exchange was in urgent need of additional capacity, as Energy Risk reported in May that year
TXU bankruptcy holds lessons for risk managers
The bankruptcy of Energy Future Holdings – formerly known as TXU – should act as a warning to risk managers, who must be alert to excessive self-confidence and a failure to deal with unpleasant or inconvenient facts, argues Vincent Kaminski
Bank-led commodity decorrelation theory rejected by analysts
Unctad economists' argument that bank withdrawals are loosening correlation between commodities and equities "doesn’t make any sense", say analysts
JP Morgan unveils commodities succession plan
John Anderson and Michael Camacho to succeed commodities chief Blythe Masters amid sale of physical business to Mercuria
Trafigura paper reignites debate on systemic risk
Commodity trading houses "are not too big to fail" argues white paper published by Trafigura, attracting mixed views from market observers
End of an era as Masters leaves JP Morgan
Goldman appoints commodities co-head; CFTC's Chilton joins law firm; energy traders flee Barclays; Alan Koh rejoins Morgan Stanley; head of oil trading quits Citi
Energy market has bright future, despite bad news
Energy risk management has come a long way and is serving up unparalleled opportunities, despite poor liquidity and a retreat by banks
Senior commodities salesman quits JP Morgan
David Samuels exits JP Morgan amid commodities shake-up and sale of physical business to Mercuria
Banks tussle to join next generation of commodity dealers
Facing low volatility, a lack of trading opportunities and compliance headaches, major global investment banks are pulling back from commodities. But at the same time, a number of smaller and regional players are actively seeking to increase their…
2014 Risk & Energy Risk Commodity Rankings photos
The top firms in this year’s Risk and Energy Risk Commodity Rankings were honoured at a champagne reception in London on February 25. We showcase the winners
Applied risk management series: Active VAR management
In this article, Carlos Blanco introduces a set of tools to assist traders and risk managers in actively managing the value-at-risk of energy derivatives portfolios
Commodity trading houses have banks on the ropes: so what?
Commodity trading houses may well be the new market heavyweights. But contrary to arguments made by bankers, that isn’t necessarily a problem
Energy Risk marks 20 years of covering energy markets
Energy Risk was first published back in February 1994. Since then, its fortunes have risen and fallen with those of the wider energy risk management industry. Mark Pengelly reflects on the highs and lows of the first 20 years
Risk managers should learn from the mistakes of others
Doing enough detective work to discover whether companies are really rotten to the core may be challenging for busy risk managers. But bad eggs usually come with early warning signs, which are easier to spot, writes Vincent Kaminski
Looking back: Post-Enron nerves give way to longer-term fears
By January 2002 – just one month after US energy giant Enron filed for bankruptcy – the more lasting implications were becoming clear in the pages of Energy Risk
More US oil producers hedging with non-WTI crudes
Increased volatility pushes oil producers to hedge with LLS, WCS and other regional crudes
Coal derivatives market fired up by new participants
Commodity traders and physical producers move into coal derivatives as major banks retreat
Commodities investing is still fundamentally sound
Commodity investors may have had a bad year, but putting money into commodities of finite supply continues to makes sense
Off-the-shelf ETRM software taking off, survey reveals
Off-the-shelf energy trading and risk management (ETRM) systems are more popular than ever before, according to Energy Risk’s annual software survey. However, companies say they still require significant customisation and rarely meet all their ETRM needs…
Commodities investing down but not out, Masters says
Global Advisors co-founder believes short-term woes will give way to long-term rally
CFTC has ‘turned the corner’ on swap data mess, says O’Malia
New CFTC working group will iron out inconsistencies between SDRs and address end-user concerns, commissioner vows