Market risk
Getting it together
Data consolidation is now a vital foundation to any successful risk management implementation, as Dave Rose and Stuart Cook of The Structure Group report
Hedge out on the highway
US haulage firms seem to be making little use of risk management tools to mitigate high fuel prices. But parcel carriers are taking the initiative, finds Kevin Foster
Allegheny reduces trading exposure with contract sale
Maryland-based Allegheny Energy has reduced its exposure to energy trading by selling an energy supply contract to a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs for $405 million.
People swaps
BOC’s Mortimer to join European energy users’ body Hugh Mortimer, commercial manager at UK industrial group BOC, has been invited to join the board of the International Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers Europe (IFIEC). He will replace David…
Taiwan’s growing risk appetite
Relying on imports for most of its energy requirements and constrained by the government’s view that risk management is gambling, how can Taiwan tackle the challenge of price risk in its growing energy sector? By David Hayes
Water faces rising costs
UK water utilities are expecting rising electricity and environmental costs as they and their regulator prepare for the next five-year price review. Maria Kielmas reports
Deregulation versus re-regulation
While the US authorities are still ironing kinks out of a major electricity market redesign and looking to repeal the utility industry’s most influential Act, US regulators and self regulators are moving to fill the vacuum. Catherine Lacoursière reports
A true test for value-at-risk
The three classic approaches for measuring portfolio value-at-risk do not compare like with like, argues Richard Sage. Here he presents a test portfolio to highlight the differences between calculation methods
WRMA to campaign on data and against normalisation
Lynda Clemmons, president of the US Weather Risk Management Association (WRMA), is to sit on an American Meteorological Society (AMS) panel to address issues in the weather industry involving weather data and public-private partnerships.
All talk, no action
Cancelled power plant auctions and the complexities of asset debt structures are bad news for the boutiques set up to acquire power assets. The boutiques talk a good business plan – but execution may prove troublesome, as Paul Lyon discovers
Both sides of the fence: a statistical and regulatory view of electricity risk
Ernst Eberlein and Gerhard Stahl analyse price series of 25 energy spot rates simultaneously using Lévy models. This model class allows the capture of stochastic behaviour of these financial instruments. The implications of this analysis will form the…
Isda and EEI collaborate on Power Annex
The New York-based International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) and US trade body the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) published a North American Power Annex to the Isda Master Agreement in August.
Warming to the exchanges
Weather derivatives may not be the most widely traded product on exchanges, but new initiatives and strong trading volume at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange bode well for the development of a mature exchange-traded market. Paul Lyon reports
Joining up the markets
The Amsterdam Power Exchange has recently developed a market-coupling system. This spot market system supports international trading – linking two independent markets based on area-based elasticity curves, it also allows flexible block orders
Gas hubs jockey for position
The Bunde-Oude natural gas hub on the German-Dutch border is the most likely candidate to become the Henry Hub of Europe, according to a survey of European natural gas experts conducted by Maycroft Consultancy Services
The derivatives burden
Former International Petroleum Exchange official Chris Cook looks at the issues raised at a debate on the future of the European energy markets at the end of London’s Derivatives Week event. The regulatory burden on firms took centre stage
Correction – Allegro: The following text should have been included in the software vendor directory in last month’s (July) issue.
Allegro Development has provided energy firms with transaction and risk management software solutions for almost 20 years. Founded in 1984, Allegro provides an industry-leading set of customisable energy software components for companies including…
How to be top of the class
Brett Humphreys discusses the attributes that combine to create a best-in-class market risk management division within an energy company
Vincent Annunziata
During his time as a senior commodities trader and risk analyst, Vincent Annunziata noticed an alarming trend: like any other trading outfit, his company was prone to human error. He was working for Phibro – formerly the commodities trading division of…
The search for spot
Strong demand for US liquefied natural gas is accelerating the development of an active global spot market and pricing benchmarks, as Catherine Lacoursière discovers
UK energy brokers form association
Nine brokers operating in the over-the-counter energy markets in the UK formed the London Energy Brokers’ Association (LEBA) in July.
From a gas crunch to a crisis
In this month’s Market Focus, GlobalView Software takes a look at the factors contributing to the current US natural gas crunch, which is drawing the attention of major political and financial figures
People Swaps
ABN Amro hires global energy trading head Dutch bank ABN Amro has hired Jonathan Arginteanu to the newly created positionof senior vice-president and deputy head of global energy trading operationsin New York. He was previously head of rival bank BNP…
Mirant bankruptcy is not terminal
US energy firm Mirant’s July bankruptcy filing bucks the recent trend of last-minute restructuring deals that have saved many of its rivals from a similar fate. But analysts say the company is likely to emerge from its filing with at least some of its…