| NYMEX to Launch 11 New Balance of Month Petroleum Products Swap ...
NEW YORK, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. today announced that it will introduce 11 new balance of month (BALMO) petroleum products swap futures contacts on NYMEX ClearPort clearing and trading, beginning on December 2 for trade date December 3. The new BALMO contracts will be cash-settled based on the balance of month average Platts price starting from the day of execution through the last trading day of the contract month. These contracts allow users to customize the balance of month period by selecting the start date of the BALMO averaging period. The first listed month will be the December 2007 contract, and the next contract month will be listed 10 business days before the start of the contract month. The new swap futures contracts and their commodity codes are: Singapore 180cst fuel oil BALMO (BS); Singapore 380cst fuel oil BALMO (BT); Singapore jet kerosene BALMO (BX); Singapore gasoil BALMO (VU); Singapore naphtha BALMO (KU); Dubai crude oil BALMO (BI); European 3.5% fuel oil (Northwest Europe) BALMO (KR); European 1% fuel oil (Northwest Europe) BALMO (KX); European naphtha BALMO (KZ); New York Harbor 1.0% fuel oil BALMO (VK); and Gulf Coast 3% fuel oil BALMO (VZ).
Upbeat IBM helps propel Dow by 171
Stocks advanced sharply Monday, with a strong profit outlook from IBM encouraging investors to go back into the stock market after last week's rout. IBM, one of the 30 Dow stocks, released preliminary earnings estimates for the fourth quarter that were 24% above year-earlier levels. The results would easily beat analysts' estimates. After falling nearly 250 points on Friday, the Dow leapt 171.85 to 12,778.15 yesterday. "The market was pretty oversold," said Richard Cripps, chief market strategist for Stifel Nicolaus. "We were due to bounce back, and the IBM news didn't hurt." IBM's news, coming before earnings season is about the get under way in earnest, did raise some hopes that quarterly results might not be as bad as feared.
Tight "Money"
There is a whole big issue...which has not fully played out in regard to providing credit and liquidity to institutions, so I think it is a dangerous period for the world. I think we are going to go through next year, certainly the first half of next year, with considerable traumas.'" November 28 - Financial Times (Michael Mackenzie and Saskia Scholtes): "Investor flight from anything bearing the taint of the US subprime mortgage crisis has pushed financial companies debt to its weakest versus US Treasuries in more than five years. Energy, utilities and telecommunications companies, conversely, have seen their lower-rated BBB bonds attract haven buying. This divergence is a stark indicator of one root cause of the current credit crunch: the unwinding of leverage on the part of investors.
Journey to the Lands of Cotton: A Brief Manual of Globalisation
Though synthetic fibres dominate the market (60 per cent), cotton is holding its own (40 per cent). And so cotton clothes the human race. And it doesn't stop there. It goes into the making of medical compresses, of course, but also specialized papers (including banknotes), photographic film and candlewicks. And, in their constant concern to make themselves useful, its fibres go into the composition of cosmetics (nail varnish, haircare products), toothpastes, ice creams ... And even though the taste of some Bolognese sauces or German sausages might seem strange, how were we to know that they contained cotton? The seeds are no less generous. Rich in protein, they provide us, without our knowing it, with a large part of our table oil. As the marketing men apparently fear that the 'cotton oil' label will put off the potential buyer, it is dubbed, more vaguely and more generally, 'vegetable oil'.
Blago revisits old ideas for budget
These leaders know we need to act now to strengthen the economy. We know it too. The idea of giving parents more money to help pay for the things their kids need is exciting. The idea of cutting taxes on businesses, that are already paying more than their fair share, is good policy. The idea of a major public works program that puts hundreds of thousands of people to work, in every part of Illinois, what is not to like? All of this is a way forward to help families and strengthen our economy. But like most things in life, nothing good worth doing comes without some sacrifice. To give families and businesses more of their money back, we have to cut spending. These spending cuts will allow us to cut taxes and get the economy moving. The sacrifice I am suggesting is a 3 percent spending cut across the board, in areas outside health care, education, and public safety.
US stock futures fall ahead of consumer price data; Fed minutes ...
Investors were also cautious ahead of Wednesday's Commerce Department report on January housing starts and building permits, as well as the Federal Reserve's minutes from its last meeting. On Jan. 30, the Fed decided to lower key interest rates by a half-point to 3 percent, following an emergency three-quarter point cut the prior week. Dow Jones industrial average futures dropped 88, or 0.71 percent, to 12,300. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 9.30, or 0.69 percent, to 1,346.10, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 9.50, or 0.53 percent, to 1,772.00. As oil closed above $100 for the first time Tuesday, the stock market gave up its sizable gains and finished mixed. On Wednesday, in premarket electronic trading, crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 95 cents to $99.06 per barrel.
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