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The International Securities Exchange (NYSE:ISE) announced today the launch of the ISE-REVERE Natural Gas Index(TM), a new sector benchmark for this growing industry which was developed with Revere Data LLC, a provider of independent research data and investment analytics. Additionally, ISE has listed cash-settled options based on this new index. Timber Hill LLC serves as the Primary Market Maker, and trading began today under the symbol FUM.
The ISE-REVERE Natural Gas Index was developed in response to growing interest in natural gas as an environmentally-desirable alternative to oil. This fossil fuel is found naturally in oil fields, gas fields, and coal beds and is both safer to transport and cleaner burning than oil. For these reasons, natural gas consumption has increased 83% in U.S. Dollar terms over the past three years as residential, commercial and industrial consumers have turned to natural gas for use in a new generation of appliances and applications. The ISE-REVERE Natural Gas Index currently contains 30 companies that derive a substantial portion of their revenues from the exploration and production of natural gas, such as Apache Corporation (APA), Devon Energy Corporation (DVN), EnCana Corporation (USA) (ECA), and Williams Companies, Inc., (WMB).
"ISE is pleased to partner with Revere Data to offer investors the ISE-REVERE Natural Gas Index to track the performance of this fast-growing segment of the energy market. We have been at the forefront of developing and launching innovative indexes to anticipate market demand, and the ISE-REVERE Natural Gas Index is a significant addition to our existing portfolio of proprietary index products. As interest in alternatives to oil grows, options on the ISE-REVERE Natural Gas Index will provide investors with an opportunity to gain exposure to or hedge existing positions to protect against natural gas price movements," said Bruce D. Goldberg, ISE's Chief Marketing Officer.
"We welcome the opportunity to work with the International Securities Exchange to assist investors to evaluate and reach market segments more easily and accurately through an index as well as an option," Kevin O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer of Revere Data said. Using our unparalleled research methodology, we were able to identify natural gas companies that are truly representative of this sector in order to optimize the performance of the index and its ability to closely track the price of natural gas."
ISE and Revere Data collaborated on a rigorous screening process, thus enabling them to determine the most compelling portfolio of natural gas stocks to include in the index. Eligibility is limited to those companies that have a greater quantity of proven natural gas reserves compared to crude oil. These candidates were further measured against several stock performance metrics and by their correlation to natural gas futures prices.
Additional information about these indexes, including methodology guides, component lists and weightings, performance metrics and historical data is freely available on ISE's website, www.iseoptions.com, on the Products Traded / Index Options page.
