Open interest was also reported to be 451 at the end of the first day of trading.
"I'm extremely proud of how well our new SPCI contract has traded," said Mark D. Fichtel, President and CEO of NYBOT. "The first-day's underlying contract value of more than $86 million demonstrates the potential strength and importance of this new alternative investment product. It is an excellent way for portfolio managers, from endowment funds to insurance companies as well as other investment sectors, to protect against sudden economic shocks such as the recent wild swings in the equities market. I strongly recommend that investors and managers look into the many benefits of employing the SPCI as a means to diversify their portfolios in these uncertain times," he added.
The NYBOT reported that David Shelhorn and Cary Potkin, both local traders at NYBOT, executed the first SPCI transaction of five contracts at 10:00 am (NY Time), seconds after the SPCI market opened for the first time. The first new exchange product launched in New York following the tragic events of September 11 was described as "smooth and successful," by market users, traders and first-day participants in the opening ceremony at the NYBOT Recovery Trading Facility in Long Island City. The new NYBOT market also represented the first S&P Index futures contract to be offered by a New York exchange.
The SPCI tracks 17 commodities in six sectors including grains, meat and livestock, metals, softs (coffee, sugar, cocoa), fibers, and energy. The index utilizes real-time prices of the relevant futures contracts traded on the commodities futures markets in New York and Chicago. Key features of the SPCI include its geometric calculation methodology and a weighting adjustment that eliminates double counting of upstream and downstream commodities.
The SPCI futures contract trades from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm (New York Time) and lists six active contract months (January, February, April, June, August, November). Expiration is the second Friday of the listed futures contract month, and the contract is cash settled. The futures contract is valued at $100 x the Index (current contract value approximately $85,000). Options on futures are also offered.
The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) is the parent company of the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange, Inc. (CSCE) and the New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE). Through its two exchanges and their subsidiaries and divisions NYBOT offers an expanding range of agricultural, currency and index products. Information about the New York Board of Trade can be found at www.nybot.com.
