Dollars and Jens
Friday, April 02, 2004
Eurex US
A story on the early travails of Eurex US and LIFFE as they attempt to compete with Chicago's derivatives exchanges.
March's average daily volume on Eurex US was 7,381 contracts, all in futures, down from 18,215 in February.I know some parties tried to be supportive right after the launch, but lost patience quickly.
"Liquidity is like a virtuous circle -- if you have a lot of business you do a lot of business, then you have a lot of business..." said Michael Spencer, chief executive of brokerage firm ICAP Plc.And if you don't, you don't. Check back in a couple years.
Update: I don't know whether this is even newsworthy, but apparently the CME CEO is ready to declare victory.
"They have already failed. A week or a month is a long time in this market," CME Chief Executive Craig Donohue told Reuters ahead of a briefing to reporters in London.Eurex says this is premature, and I'm inclined to agree. As I said, check back in a couple years.
