(Shaking head in disgust......) _________________________________ NYMEX says CFTC reconsidering ICE WTI contract NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The New York Mercantile Exchange said the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is reconsidering its decision to allow IntercontinentalExchange (ICE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to list U.S. crude futures on a London-based platform. Atlanta-based ICE is planning to launch a West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract Friday on its London-based ICE futures exchange -- a proposal that had rival NYMEX and U.S. Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York complaining that it would put U.S. energy prices outside of U.S. regulation. "We are gratified with the CFTC's decision to further investigate the situation," NYMEX President James E. Newsome said in a statement issued late Wednesday afternoon. A spokeswoman for ICE said the company is continuing with plans to offer the WTI contract on screens based in the U.S. starting Friday. Officials of the CFTC were not immediately available for comment. (Additional reporting by Megan Davies) http://yahoo.reuters.com/stocks/Quo...03_2006-02-02_15-20-55_N02324460&symbol=ICE.N
LOL. I work at the NYMEX, and let me tell you, it's hilarious. There are guys that swear up and down that trading from the pit is harder and that screen trading isn't "real" trading, blah, blah, blah, but they fight like hell to protect the ring.
UPDATE 2-CFTC says ICE can still list U.S. oil futures Thu Feb 2, 2006 11:28 AM ET (recasts story, adds CFTC comment) NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said the IntercontinentalExchange <ICE.N> can go ahead with its plan to list on Friday U.S. crude futures on a London-based platform. The CFTC's no-action letter that allowed the ICE to operate and list contracts "remains valid," an agency spokesman told Reuters. "So (ICE) can certainly start trading that (oil) contract tomorrow," he said. The New York Mercantile Exchange said the CFTC was reconsidering its decision to allow Atlanta-based ICE is planning to launch a West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract Friday on its London-based ICE futures exchange -- a proposal that had rival NYMEX and U.S. Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York complaining that it would put U.S. energy prices outside of U.S. regulation. "We are gratified with the CFTC's decision to further investigate the situation," NYMEX President James E. Newsome said in a statement issued late Wednesday afternoon. A spokeswoman for ICE said the company is continuing with plans to offer the WTI contract on screens based in the U.S. starting Friday. (Additional reporting by Tom Doggett in Washington, Megan Davies in New York)
Funny... (shakes head again) MBF Sues Intercontinental Exchange Thursday February 2, 3:55 pm ET MBF Clearing Sues Intercontinental Exchange, Charging Anticompetitive Behavior NEW YORK (AP) -- Futures trading brokerage MBF Clearing Corp. said Thursday it is suing Intercontinental Exchange Inc., an online global commodities market, alleging monopolistic behavior and seeking millions in damages. The antitrust suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges that Intercontinental Exchange holds a monopoly in the market for electronically traded Brent crude oil futures contracts and is after a monopoly in the markets for electronically traded Henry Hub natural gas and sweet crude oil contracts. An Intercontinental Exchange spokesman said the company has not been presented with the suit and declined further comment. According to a statement by MBF, Intercontinental Exchange barred MBF customers from accessing the exchange on Dec. 7. MBF's complaint charges that the company did so "to block the development of liquidity for the soon-to-be-launched NYMEX Electronic Brent Crude Oil Futures contract, and to limit development of liquidity for NYMEX miNY Henry Hub natural gas and light, sweet crude oil futures contracts." MBF is a privately held clearing broker for futures transactions on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The company said it is seeking "millions of dollars in damages" and "injunctive relief." Shares of publicly held Intercontinental Exchange fell 68 cents to $54.95 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.