Market risk
Option pricing for power prices with spikes
European power prices are very volatile and subject to spikes, particularly in German and Dutch markets. Ronald Huisman and Cyriel de Jong examine the impact of spikes on option prices by comparing prices from a standard mean-reverting model and a regime…
Blurring the lines
A turf war between Atlanta’s IntercontinentalExchange and the New York Mercantile Exchange reveals a shift in the traditional role of over-the-counter brokers and exchanges, finds Catherine Lacoursière
US pipelines follow the market
Todd Shipman of credit rating firm Standard & Poor’s finds that pipeline companies in the US will face more market risk than regulatory risk in the coming year
Enough’s enough
Brett Humphreys takes the guesswork out of determining how many simulations are needed to calculate value-at-risk
Crude oil takes a double hit
Mark Powell of GlobalView Software looks at how crude prices are being affected by the impending war with Iraq and the general strike in Venezuela
US gas market challenges
A new report from the investigative office of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finds that competitive natural gas markets in the US are robust, but warns of challenges ahead. Kevin Foster reports
Coal on the rocks
Faced with liquidity problems, falling volumes and uncertainty over the accuracy of price data, coal trading has had many of the same difficulties as the natural gas and power sectors over the past year. How can it get back on its feet, asks Kevin Foster
Structured finance caught off-balance
Efforts by energy and finance professionals to stress the difference between legitimate off-balance-sheet entities and Enron’s opaque devices have had little impact, as US regulators rush to clean up structured finance. Maria Kielmas reports
A clear market leader
How will SunGard’s acquisition of rival vendor Caminus change the market for energy risk management software? Kevin Foster reports
Exchanging blows
Conflict in the US and growth in Europe marked another turbulent year for energy exchanges. Kevin Foster casts an eye back over 2002
A decision model for selling park and loan services
The park and loan model is useful for gas storages and pipelines. The concept can be applied to many ‘when to sell’-type decisions. Here, Huagang ‘Hugh’ Li considers selling park and loan services as a financial and statistical decision on revenue and…
Getting stressed
To understand how much value can be lost from a position in the energy markets, we need to use measures other than value-at-risk. Brett Humphreys discusses methods for creating effective stress tests
Hedging on a jet plane
The past eighteen months has been a critical time for airlines. FAME Information Services looks at how an airline can reduce operating costs by jet fuel hedging
Rising fuel costs, diving profits
Airlines differ on how to manage jet fuel price ‘hyper-volatility’ as option prices point to more turbulence ahead. Catherine Lacoursière reports
In search of transparency
The open secret of index price manipulation in the natural gas sector is officially out, and the industry is scrambling to reform the system. Kevin Foster reports
Standardising electricity contracts
Electricity contracts have come and gone, but a new trio of financially settled futures contracts aims to widen the electricity market, reports James Ockenden