Archive - Apr 6, 2010 - Blog entry

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which manages the assets of one of Canada's biggest pension funds, said it had a strong year in 2009, with the value of its assets rising to C$96.4 billion (US$96.3 billion), and a return of 13%—more than four percentage points over its benchmarked return. Unfortunately, plummeting interest rates made it harder to meet its future obligations, sending unfunded liabilities soaring to C$17.1 billion—almost seven times what it had been the year before.

In an effort to dredge a moat around market share for Amex & Arca, the NYSE has implemented a new Penny Pilot "Premium Tier" pricing schedule for the options of 15 specific issues. Liquidity providers transacting serious size across these anointed sticker symbols ... AAPL, BAC, C, DIA, EEM, FAZ, GDX, GE, GLD, IWM, QQQQ, SPY, UNG, USO & XLF ... will (yet again) enjoy additional rebates as the NYSE attempts to [1] stave off competition from other options exchanges and [2] further buoy an anemic equity market, which continues to plow forward on phantom volume at 3 am on Sunday night (like the accelerator of a Toyota Camry beneath a sleep-driving Ambien junkie approaching a raised drawbridge with both eyes closed shut, one hand on the wheel and the other on his sixth bear claw).

As digital cash flows across 21st century capital markets with the speed of a Mahwah server farm fart, increasingly inter-connected exchanges continue to roll out new derivative product offerings. With so many market participants discussing inflation expectations, deflationary data and central bank exit strategies, the NYSE Liffe U.S. has stepped up to the plate by pitching new interest rate futures contracts and futures options to be launched Q3 / Q4 2010 on the Eurodollar and 2-year, 5-year, 10-year & 30-year US Treasuries.