NIBA Journal

Insights, analysis, and updates from the National Introducing Brokers Association

August 17, 2017

Liquidity Leaders: CME Group’s Leading Products Guide

View a quarterly listing of CME Group’s leading futures and options contracts. This guide shows the top contracts by asset class in terms of average daily volume and open interest. This resource also highlights information on recent product launches and global partnership data. Q2 Highlights: - Interest Rate OI reached a record 79 million contracts on June 15 - NYMEX WTI Crude Oil ADV surpassed 1.2 million contracts, +19% versus 2016 - FX large OI holders reached a new all-time record high of 1,106 contracts on June 6, up 19% Access Now

NIBA Annual Fall Chicago Conference

The Annual Fall Chicago Conference is the association's largest conference of the year hosted by the CME Group in Chicago. We had great success at our 25th Anniversary Conference last year and this year is shaping up to be our best one yet! The full agenda will be released in short order and this year will include never before seen sessions including a cryptocurrency trading panel and the "quant-corner" breakout session. We are also excited to have Chicago's very own Megan Glaros, Meteorologist for the CBS 2 Chicago Morning News speaking to the membership. Stay tuned for additional details and be sure to reserve your spot now.

Can Quantitative Analysis Hone a Discretionary Manager’s Edge?

What is a quant? Wikipedia definition: A quantitative analyst or, in financial jargon, a quant is a person who specializes in the application of mathematical and statistical methods – such as numerical or quantitative techniques – to financial and risk management problems. Amongst traders, “quant” may conjure an image of a nerdy programmer, but we may all employ quantitative analysis in our daily routines. (simple example- if freight train crossing, take longer distance route to save time). To get some perspective, Ryan Griffeth contacted Bernie Kane, who this year joined Ron Anderson as co-manager of County Cork’s discretionary Soybean Crush Spread strategy. RG: How does quantitative analysis differ from fundamental analysis BK: Fundamental analysis seeks to identify supply / demand imbalances. These imbalances can be at the consumption or user level or they can be at the producer level. If a product requires processing, the middle man can also experience...

NIBA/DePaul Internship Joint Endeavor

The NIBA Internship Program is underway! The idea for this internship program was proposed and found strong support among NIBAs Advisory Group. Qualified students will be matched with members looking for candidates trained in a broad array of critical sectors, including Finance, Statistics, Media, Marketing, and Law. To highlight one of our recent internship success stories, Muz Quadri, who completed his MS in Finance in June, combined an internship opportunity with Rice Dairy LLC while completing his final semester at DePaul. Rice Dairy LLC expressed that “Muz was very well prepared for his internship and a delight to work with. He utilized many of his well-developed academic skills by contributing to a number of comprehensive research and development projects, including co-authoring an article that was published in May.” The goal of our program is to foster meaningful development - for both the interns and the member. NIBA and DePaul are...

Announcement from NIBA BoD

As part of our 25th Anniversary celebration The NIBA Board of Directors are pleased to announce that all NFA registered IBs and CTAs will receive a complimentary one-year 25th Anniversary membership to the NIBA. The NIBA has been a resource to the trading and brokerage community for a quarter of a century and as a way of giving back and gearing up for the next 25 years we are excited to extend this offer to the community. NIBA President Mike Burke will be emailing each firm individually with details on how to take advantage of this special offer ahead of our annual Chicago conference. Thank you for your support of the last 25 years. If you haven't already be sure to visit the timeline on the NIBAs website to take a trip down memory lane and see the progression of this association and the accomplishments it has achieved over the...

Chairman's Letter - August 2017

“Change is not merely necessary to life - it is life” - Alvin Toffler (1928-2016) Alvin Toffler was an American writer and futurist best known for his works on modern technologies and the communication revolution. The above quote appeared in Future Shock, first published in 1970. Changes which will have a profound effect on our professional lives have happened this summer. On August 3, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to confirm Chris Giancarlo as Chairman of the CFTC. Commissioner Giancarlo spoken many times about reviewing current regulation. His KISS initiative is an example. He has also discussed rewriting swaps trading rules to better reflect the Dodd-Frank Act saying that the rules are “highly over engineered, disproportionately modeled on U.S. futures markets and biased against both human discretion and technological innovation.” Under his leadership, the Commission has recently extended temporary relief for certain position aggregation requirements until August, 2019. This change...

Interest in Cattle Futures has Never Been Higher

AT A GLANCE Massive herd expansion helps fuel surge in trading Analyst: Feedlots are in as good a position as they’ve been in years Beef producers are building the U.S. cattle herd at one of the fastest paces on record, as higher cattle prices and stronger exports fuel healthy profit margins. The expansion comes just a few years after the U.S. herd shrank to a six-decade low amid severe drought in the Southern U.S. Plains and near-record corn prices. The market resurgence is reflected in CME Group’s benchmark Live Cattle futures contract, for which the number of open positions, or open interest, has reached all-time highs. CME’s 10 highest-ever daily open interest figures for Live Cattle futures (the contract was launched in 1964) have been posted since late April, topped by 431,718 contracts at the close of trading May 2. Live cattle open interest averaged 407,800 contracts during June 2017,...

By NIBARead article

Ascent Introduces Intelligence-as-a-Service

July 27, 2017

3 min read

Ascent Introduces Intelligence-as-a-Service

What is Intelligence as a Service? Intelligence-as-a-Service (“IntaaS”) is the combination of automated domain expertise with traditional internet software. Imagine if your CRM came pre-filled with customer information, your taxes were pre-loaded and completed in your tax software, or your digital compliance system was pre-filled with all your data: this is the promise of IntaaS. Software-as-a-Service reduced the marginal cost of delivering services. IntaaS reduces the cost of both creating and delivering a unit of intelligence to customers. What we Do In systems where the inputs are standard and the output is identical (think self-driving cars), deep learning works extraordinarily well. Even in those systems, miniscule failure rates are extraordinarily risky. In systems where the inputs are dynamic and the outputs are targeted (n=1), deep learning must be supplemented by domain expertise and domain-specific technology (think regulation and law). This is what we have done at Ascent. By combining our...

NIBA/DePaul Thank You!

This year's Annual Summer Symposium co-hosted by NIBA and DePaul University was a huge success. We would like to thank each and every one of you who attended and supported this event. We would also like to thank John Lothian who delivered an excellent key note speech to kick things off as well as the rest of our moderators and panelists. Special thanks to DePaul University who has been a tremendous partner and great resource for the association, its members and the industry at large. Below are a few pictures from the Symposium and check back soon for video of the event.

NIBA Fall Chicago Conference Announcement

NIBA is proud to announce that registration is now open for this year's Fall Chicago Conference. Be sure to reserve your spot early as space will be limited and check back to the website for updates and announcements on speakers and this year's agenda. https://www.theniba.com/niba-event/annual-niba-fall-chicago-conference/

By NIBARead article

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