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Overview and static valuation
John Breslin, Les Clewlow, Tobias Elbert, Calvin Kwok and Chris Strickland illustrate how the four most common valuation methodologies can be used to optimise gas storage and trading
Bagging a bargain
The global oil sector is likely to emerge from the credit crisis with a more concentrated pool of players, but power will increasingly revolve around China and India as they tap the markets for cheap assets, finds Catherine Lacoursière
Dry bulk freight rates on a sinking ship
A combination of the credit squeeze and dwindling demand for raw materials has seen dry bulk freight rates slump to levels not seen since 2002. Peter Norfolk at SSY charts the fall
ETRM evolution
As energy trading and risk management systems become increasingly sophisticated, Rana Basu of TradeCapture looks at what users need to consider as they progress from implementing and using the most basic to the most complex systems
Turkey's political pipelines
Turkey's strategic position at the crossroads of East and West has put it at the centre of a geopolitical tug-of-war, with energy supply a key driver. Robert Amsterdam examines the energy policies being brought to bear in the region
Funds warn against stifling trade
Recent moves to increase regulation in oil markets are stifling trade and won't bring down prices, warn fund managers
Safe to come out?
As energy traders take stock after the unprecedented market turmoil of September, the Energy Risk team asks a range of key players what effects they expect the investment banking crisis to have on commodities trading and risk management
Natural gas caught by an energy price wave
US natural gas prices have been dragged up by crude oil prices despitehaving different fundamentals. Eric Fishhaut at GlobalView Softwarecharts the trend
Pricing volumetric risk
Sergey Kolos and Konstantin Mardanov of Citi Commodities presenta general framework for pricing contracts with volumetric risk.They concentrate on a simple payoff and focus the discussion on themain challenge of such contracts, the pricing of the…
A grounded business
As high fuel costs force many airlines to introduce fuel efficiencyprogrammes and even resort to grounding aircraft, Katie Holliday looksat the likely effects of these measures on jet fuel demand and price inthe coming months
Out of gas
High US gasoline prices are causing Americans to turn to energy-efficientvehicles, a trend that could have an enormous and long-term impact ongasoline demand, some experts say. Kate Fazzini investigates
Every cloud...
The weather derivatives marketcontinues to gain end-user, hedge fundand investor interest. Roderick Bruceexamines the forecast and finds a silverlining on the current Wall Street cloud
Bank of America buys Merrill Lynch for $50 billion
Bank of America announced today it will acquire Merrill Lynch in a $50 billion all-stock deal, rounding off an explosive weekend on Wall Street.
Crunching the numbers
Advances in analytical tools, coupled with a proposed December Ferc ruling requiring US gas providers to publish gas flow data, could herald a revolution in US natural gas trading. Algorithmic trading techniques, similar to the kinds used in the equity…
Implied trees: Valuing exotic options
In this next installment of the Masterclass series, Jim Clark, Les Clewlow and Chris Strickland show how to value exotic options, using a calibrated local volatility surface consistent with market prices
Where to next for gas prices?
US natural gas markets can be tricky to predict, as recent high-profile losses in these markets have shown. However, there are some aspects of price behaviour that are more uniform than might be imagined, writes David Linton of Updata
Valid Assumptions Required: backtesting
Given the large number of assumptions made in calculating a value-at-risk, how can we have confidence in the quality of the resulting calculation? Brett Humphreys looks at using backtesting to evaluate quality.
The outlook for US gas
US natural gas prices, which have fallen by 30% recently, are expected to stabilise at current levels or rise from here, analysts say. Longer term, unconventional reserves could dampen prices. William Rhode reports
The power of now
A real-time position reporting system is becoming an important tool for large energy trading firms. Sirius Solutions’ Brian Shydlo introduces the concepts, challenges and techniques associated with designing and implementing an RTP solution
Changing times at Centrica Energy
Constantine Vaitsas, Atlas transformation director at CentricaEnergy, describes how his company updated its tradingand risk management systems to meet the challenges of therapidly-shifting energy markets
The shape of things to come
As Australia gears up for its emissions trading scheme in 2010, Anthony Collins of the Australian Securities Exchange examines the country’s emissions profile and looks at how the financial markets supporting the scheme are likely to evolve
Getting IT right
With voluntary carbon markets growing rapidly, registries are springing up to facilitate trade. Many companies, however, have not begun the crucial work of developing such internal systems. William J Scotti of Meradia Group offers some suggestions
A path for renewables
Renewable energy needs to become a bigger part of the US energy mix, but there are still a number of hurdles to clear, explains Richard McMahon of the Edison Electric Institute