MGEX Certifies New Cash-Settled Contracts - Electronic Trading Launch Day Detailed

The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) announced today that on February 4, 2002, the exchange certified to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that the rules and regulations of its new cash-settled corn and soybean futures and options comply with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and its regulations. The CFTC was also notified by MGEX that trading in the new contracts commences on February 15, 2002.

The contracts, National Corn Index (NCI) and National Soybean Index (NSI) futures and options, will trade exclusively on MGEXpress, the exchange's electronic trading platform that will launch simultaneously with the new contracts. The MGEX board of directors and members approved the rules and regulations of the contracts in 2001.

MGEX also announced plans for an event commemorating the launch of MGEXpress and the NCI and NSI contracts. The Honorable Governor Jesse Ventura (Independent, Minn.) is expected to ring the opening bell at 8:30 a.m. CST on the MGEX trading floor.

Cash-settled NCI and NSI futures and options will be the first products to trade on MGEXpress. The settlement indexes for NCI and NSI futures are based on roughly 1,500 country elevator bids and are calculated daily by Data Transmission Network (DTN), an Omaha-based electronic commerce and information services company. MGEX, established in 1881, is the only market for hard red spring wheat, white wheat, durum wheat, cottonseed, Twin Cities on- and off-peak electricity, and NSI and NCI futures and options. For more information about MGEX, visit www.mgex.com.