It would have been been somewhat manageable if they had not included the trading break. What exactly is the purpose of a 45 minute trading break in the morning?!
Yea, I really don't get it... since pit open used to be at 9:30 AM CST, right? What's the point of opening electronic trading at 6:30 AM? I guess to match up with equity open...?
I haven't thought about it, but I think it's time to explore. My other concern is the cross-margin issue... if I'm trading CBOT options but hoping to hedge with ICE futures... is there any way for the FCM to know the two should balance each other out?
This is a good question. My instincts would be that ICE would be amenable to granting you some cross-margin haircuts. Why don't you email ICE directly?
The only thing I can think about is the trick Bunge played with limit orders to gauge the market depth levels during premarket. But since the exchanges are now considering it illegal I don't know.
I found the article back: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/financial-regulation-bunge-idUSN2216969120110322 It happened almost everyday at one point.