Risk management
Models of good behaviour
The development of new models that describe the real dynamics of energy prices have to take into account the behavioural aspects of market players. The problem is how to quantify these aspects. Maria Kielmas reports
Greening the markets
Environmental risks are increasingly being recognised as important financial issues, but the markets are still some way from rewarding companies for good environmental performance, as Kevin Foster discovers
Opportunity knocks for smelters
Aluminium manufacturers have long used sophisticated hedging and risk management techniques to protect against fluctuating metal prices, yet they have only recently looked at transferring these skills to power risk management. David Wilson reports
Margin notes
Brett Humphreys explains how to measure and manage margin risk, an often-overlooked – yet often-significant – risk exposure
Ahead of the green game
Given the efforts they have already made to reduce emissions, many German firms do not share their environment minister’s enthusiasm for the EU’s new, obligatory cross-border greenhouse gas emissions trading market. Jessica McCallin reports
Judicial stalemate
German natural gas market liberalisation is stalled between the courts and a corporatist business culture, finds Maria Kielmas
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
Enough’s enough
Brett Humphreys takes the guesswork out of determining how many simulations are needed to calculate value-at-risk
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
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
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
Cell mates
Traders love spreadsheets. But complex deals can quickly outgrow a sheet developed on the fly. Since traders won’t abandon their favourite tools, Stuart Cook and Tony Hughes of The Structure Group look at how firms can control their use
Capturing value from energy supply and trading
Companies that plan to engage in energy trading need to invest in the right personnel, processes and information management tools if they intend to be successful, says David Dunkin, SolArc’s Chief Strategic Executive
Who is left to manage risk?
The exodus of energy trading companies from the market has created a gap in managing risk. David Johnson and Ross Warriner of Protiviti report
The Power Sector Model
David Soronow, Mike Pierce and King Wang, of Financial Engineering Associates, introduce the firm’s Power Sector Model as the next step in derivatives pricing
New Energy Associates, a Siemens Company, presents the future of ETRM
As generation, trading and retailing companies come out from under the dark cloud to prepare for what looks to be a brighter future, one issue has become critical – the need to upgrade outdated ETRM systems with 21st century architecture, portfolio…
Making sense of the new power market
Bank of America’s Rogers Herndon and David Mooney examine expectations in the energy and power markets before and after the collapse of Enron and outline their predictions for the future
Trading natural gas futures with weatherfutures at the CME
Craig Jimenez and Mirant’s Vishu Kulkarni discuss how the burgeoning relationship between the natural gas futures market and the weather futures market is providing opportunities for traders, hedgers and speculators alike
Quality data and solutions for a challenging market
FAME provides today’s uncertain energy market with transparent information and the tools to analyse it
How much can you take?
Given recent events, energy firms need to fundamentally re-think how they estimate their risk tolerance. Maria Kielmas asks what has prompted this soul-searching
Build in or buy out?
Is it more cost-effective for companies to buy available systems from vendors or to develop and deploy their own energy trading and risk management solutions? Bob Bridger of Vedaris looks into the dilemma faced by many companies
Doing the maths: physical value-at-risk
ABB’s William Rutz and Bob Fesmire investigate new tools that calculate physical value-at-risk based on simulations of generating resources and power transactions