In a special opening procedure concluded on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 28.7 million contracts representing more than $716 million in value were traded. The Rogers International Commodity Index TRAKRS start their regular trading schedule tomorrow and will trade Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Central time on the CME(R) Globex(R) electronic trading platform. The Rogers TRAKRS is designed to provide customers with an effective way to invest in the underlying basket of commodities tracked by the Rogers International Commodity Index. This basket is broad-based and includes commodities ranging from agricultural products, such as wheat, corn and cotton, to energy products, including crude oil, gasoline and natural gas, to metals and minerals, including gold, silver, aluminum and lead. The value of this basket is tracked via futures contracts on 35 different exchange-traded physical commodities listed on 10 exchanges.
The underlying index was developed to be an effective measure of the price action of raw materials on a worldwide basis. The large number of contracts and underlying raw materials represents diversification while the global coverage of those contracts reflects the current state of international trade and commerce.
TRAKRS, or Total Return Asset Contracts(SM) are designed to enable investors to track an index of stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities or other financial instruments. Previous TRAKRS offerings include Long-Short Technology TRAKRS, Select 50 TRAKRS, LMC TRAKRS, Commodity TRAKRS, Euro Currency TRAKRS and Gold TRAKRS. TRAKRS are the first broad-based index products traded on a U.S. futures exchange that can be sold by securities brokers. Furthermore, when purchased by non-institutional investors, they are the first futures contracts that can be held in securities accounts. Each TRAKRS contract, for which CME receives significantly lower than usual clearing fees, has a notional value of approximately $25 at launch.
TRAKRS differ from traditional futures contracts in that are not leveraged for most long non-institutional investors, who are required to post 100 percent of the TRAKRS market value at the time of purchase. As a result, non- institutional investors establishing long TRAKRS positions will not be subject to margin calls or any requirement to make any additional payments throughout the life of their TRAKRS positions. Non-institutional investors establishing short TRAKRS positions post 50 percent of the price. Short positions held by non-institutional investors are subject to certain maintenance payments if the settlement price increases substantially. Alternatively, if the settlement price decreases significantly, non-institutional investors will receive a maintenance payment. Securities brokers, subject to notice registering with the National Futures Association, are able to solicit trades in TRAKRS from non-institutional investors.
