KCBT Announces Value Line® Market Maker, Reduced Contract Size

The Kansas City Board of Trade has selected Infinium Capital Management as a market maker to provide continuous two-sided markets in the exchange’s Value Line® stock index futures contract effective today.

The Value Line trades on the Chicago Board of Trade’s (CBOT®) e-cbot® electronic trading platform powered by LIFFE CONNECT®. Futures trading hours are 7:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. CT Sunday through Friday. Infinium Capital Management will provide continuous two-sided markets in the Value Line between 8:30 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. CT.

"We're excited to partner with the KCBOT® as a market maker for the Value Line futures contract," said Nathan Laurell, Infinium Capital Management chief operating officer. "Recent changes in the Value Line contract such as the reduction in the multiplier and the listing of the contract on e-cbot, one of the premier electronic trading platforms, should make the contract more attractive to retail users and should greatly increase the contract's availability and exposure. We look forward to providing liquidity in the product and partnering with the KCBOT to further develop the Value Line futures contract."

Infinium Capital Management is a proprietary capital management firm based in Chicago, Illinois that trades derivatives, equities and fixed-income products in both electronic and open outcry markets.

Additionally, the KCBT® altered the size of the Value Line stock index futures and options contracts and changed the minimum price fluctuation, effective for business trading day May 9.

The contract size was adjusted from a multiplier of 100 to a multiplier of 25, a value that is more comparable to that of other electronically traded stock index futures and options products. The adjusted value will make the contract more attractive to retail users as well as better facilitate spread trading between index products. The minimum tick size was also adjusted from .10 to .50 as to maintain a tick size value comparable to that of other stock index futures and options contracts.

The margin rates relating to the adjusted contract size were amended commensurately and are available at KCBT Margins.

The Kansas City Board of Trade pioneered trade in stock index futures with its launch of the Value Line in 1982, and once again led the marketplace with smaller stock index futures by introducing the Mini Value Line® in 1983. Value Line futures are based on the Value Line Arithmetic Index, a broad-based, equal-weighted market measure of 1,650 blue-chip, mid-size and small-cap issues.