Market risk
A revival of the coal business
The boom in world coal prices has not been sustained in 2005.Two industry experts, Alexandre Kervinio and Christopher Connelly, of Société Générale, look at the reasons why
Icap to acquire United Fuels International
Interdealer broker Icap is to acquire the majority of the assets of United Fuels International, a leading US-based energy broking business with 2004 turnover of $24 million.
EEX launches French physical power futures
Germany’s European Energy Exchange (EEX) has started offering physical power futures with delivery in France, another step towards its stated aim of further ‘Europeanisation’. This is the second product the EEX has offered beyond German borders,…
GFI buys Starsupply
Interdealer broker GFI Group has agreed to acquire Starsupply Petroleum, a leading broker of oil products and related derivative and option contracts.
Lufthansa continues to save through fuel hedging
German airline Lufthansa has reported a increase in operating expenses of only 1.3% despite a big surge in fuel prices, partly thanks to its fuel-hedging strategy.
Great expectations?
Risk and expectation are two sides of the same coin. But could you quantify your own risk appetite? explores some ways to put a price tag on those hazards you can’t avoid Neil Palmer
Baiting the hook
End-users such as utilities and industrial companies are not showing the same keenness as hedge funds for trading weather derivatives, despite the efforts of banks, dealers and brokers to lure them in. By Joe Marsh
Growing up fast
Weather trading is seeing strong volume growth in the US, largely due to the influx of hedge funds into the market. Why such a big increase in interest, and what sort of strategies are the funds adopting? By Joe Marsh
Pricing the weather
Pricing weather derivatives is different from valuing other derivatives contracts – actuarial methods play a greater role. Steve Jewson looks at the varied approaches available
Strength in numbers
Weather derivatives seem to have a bright future: the market is enjoying record liquidity levels as new players, trading ever more diverse products, flood into the market. Oliver Holtaway reports
Editor
"Although end-users seem slow to enter the weather space, hedge funds already see it as a hotspot"
Making an impact
It can affect as much as 20% of the US economy, and nearly every industry worldwide is affected by it. But blaming poor results on the weather is no longer an excuse: weather derivatives are on the rise. Eric Fishhaut reports from Chicago on the growth…
Weatherproofing the VAR
The weather derivatives market shares some similarities with other markets, but applying existing models can sometimes have disastrous results. Brett Humphreys and Eric Raleigh discuss how weather derivatives differ from financial derivatives and how we…
Growing up fast
Weather trading is seeing strong volume growth in the US, largely due to the influx of hedge funds into the market. Why such a big increase in interest, and what sort of strategies are the funds adopting? By Joe Marsh
Pipelines and politics
The latest in a long line of disputes over natural gas supplies from Russia is raising concern among utility customers and investors that future supplies to the West may be disrupted. But is this a long-term problem? Oliver Holtaway reports
The energy equation
Quantitative analysis in the energy industry is undergoing a crucial transition as it moves out of the role of secondary support to sit at the heart of business decision-making. Stella Farrington looks at its advance
Chris Bowden
With energy prices skyrocketing, risk management is now a necessity, not an option, says energy risk pioneer Chris Bowden . By Stella Farrington
Delivering the goods
There’s huge scope for growth in the freight derivatives market, but to attract more players, existing participants need to adopt more innovative and sophisticated trading practices, participants say. Stella Farrington reports
Louise Kitchen joins Deutsche
Louise Kitchen will join Deutsche Bank as managing director and global head of commodities structuring and marketing within its global markets division, the firm has announced.
BNP Paribas strengthens energy derivatives team
French bank BNP Paribas has strengthened its commodity derivatives team in New York, London and Singapore, particularly on the energy side.
Nymex, Icap to launch gas, crude oil daily settlement derivatives
The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and inter-dealer broker Icap are to launch an electronic market in same-day over-the-counter (OTC) options on prompt-month settlement prices for crude oil and natural gas. Starting on Monday (July 18), the…
Keep it simple, stupid
Do you prefer sophistication or simplicity? Neil Palmer takes a look at optimisation methods in energy modelling and asks if energy quants aren’t sometimes being a little too heavy-handed
Belgian power exchange to launch early 2006
The Belgian day-ahead electricity market is due to start in early 2006 on the Belgian power exchange (Belpex) in a link-up with Dutch power exchange APX and French energy exchange Powernext. This is the first time three power exchanges will be linked…