Reading the article I saw the list of big name players, but one was conspicuously absent from the group, Goldman. I thought that was interesting, especially with the forays into attempted exchange ownerships of late.
I find it fascinating: http://www.chicagotribune.com/servi...ay/chi-sat_exchange_1222dec22,0,7429724.story nitro
True, remember the EnronOnline stuff and the end of the nymex? This guys need boys like the Physical houses like Louis-Dreyfus , Cargill, Trafigura,Glencore, Natural Gas marketers, Drillers, Exxon (those are the really BIG players), Prop firms, Floor traders, Hedgers, And us (samll Players) to make their money, But you have to be suicidal to play in an exchange dominate by these Anacondas. I wonder what kind of transparency I'll get trading in a exchange where these monsters own the hole book?.. They are just bankers and Hedge Funds. On the Other hand, this is like mafia, You just don't go from New York to Chicago and steal a business.. Those Chicago's boys Know how to fight in their yards. They Invented the commodities futures markets anyway.
Considering that EUREX products cost about half as much to trade as the domestic there is plenty of room for a little price competition here. Both CME and NYMEX will experience it sooner or later.
"It is unlikely to have more success than past attempts," Goldman Sachs analyst Daniel Harris wrote in a client note, referring to the startup exchange. While Eurex U.S. put a small dent in CME's Treasury business, the exchange cut prices about 20 percent to protect its turf and then raised prices again once the Eurex threat was extinguished. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071224/cme_group_mover.html?.v=2
Judging by the names listed and the markets in general - I'd say this exchange will probably take a form similar to Clearport...hedger and fund oriented contracts which is great. These guys are already making crappy markets/structures in the energy OTC business, collectivizing their b/a seems like a foolish business decision though so I'm skeptical.
In response to the Eurex/competition point - this exchange would likely be owned by liquidity providers/market makers themselvs, unlike ICE/CME/NYMEX, so really a return to the framework where profitability of the exchange is less important than the exchange as a platform to encourage volume (IE support the market makers in return for liquidity). My 2c.
Go for it Google. Help found the next great stock/futures/data exchange. It is in your mission statement to distribute information as cheaply and as broadly as possible. That will help propel your stock to over $2000 per share