cme posts
FeedPosted Feb 16th 2011 4:40PM by Trefis (RSS feed)
Filed under: Chicago Merc Exch Hld'A' (CME)
CME Group, Inc. (CME) reported a 19% increase in its trading volume for 2010, averaging 12.2 million contracts per per day. CME's main competitors include NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX and new stock exchanges like BATS Global and Direct Edge.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange provides a marketplace as well as back-end financial infrastructure for administrating and setting up futures contracts (as well as options on futures). These contracts facilitate hedging strategies for market participants looking to reduce risk, as well as profit opportunities for those aiming to make speculative bets. The company historically focused on agricultural products for farmers in the U.S., but has since transformed itself into an electronic marketplace for financial futures and options.
Continue reading Business Activity Gains Momentum at CME
Posted Jan 7th 2011 11:20AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Amazon.com (AMZN), 3M Corporation (MMM), Penney (J.C.) (JCP), Gap Inc (GPS), Kohl's Corp (KSS), Analyst Initiations, Nordstrom, Inc (JWN), Anadarko Petroleum (APC)
Analyst Upgrades
- Diamond Offshore (DO) to conviction buy from sell and Baker Hughes (BHI) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
- Frontier Communications (FTR) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
- Syntel (SYNT) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo, to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank and to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
- Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) and Fiserv (FISV) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
- 3M (MMM) to neutral from underweight and Tyco (TYC) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
- Collective Brands (PSS) and Nordstrom (JWN) to overweight from equal weight, as well as Foot Locker (FL) to equal weight from underweight, at Morgan Stanley.
- Amazon.com (AMZN) to buy from hold at Lazard Capital.
- Yamana Gold (AUY) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: APC, AMZN, CME, DO, GPS, H, JCP, JWN, KSS, PM SYNT ...
Posted Nov 29th 2010 6:00PM by Jason Raznick (RSS feed)
A large scale sell-off materialized in the silver market in mid-November after the CME Group (CME) raised silver margins. The iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) fell from over $27 to under $25 in a matter of days on very heavy volume. It looked like a top had been put in after a heady run in the precious metal.
The SLV, however, has now retraced that move despite the fact that the U.S. dollar has been climbing on a near daily basis. A stronger dollar should be putting a cap on the silver market, and that is not happening. This is a very bullish signal that the price of silver is going to continue to climb as we head into 2011. Look to get long the iShares Silver Trust ETF in the coming days.
Posted Oct 24th 2010 12:30PM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Microsoft (MSFT), ConocoPhillips (COP), Economic Data, Housing, Visa Inc. (V)
The earnings crunch continues this week, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are anticipating lots of strong quarterly reports.
For example, year-over-year earnings growth from big oil Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), ExxonMobil (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) are expected to be in double digits. The same is true of many other energy and mining concerns reporting this week: Allegheny Technologies (ATI), Alliant Energy (LNT), Arch Coal (ACI), Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), CMS Energy (CMS), CONSOL Energy (CNX), DPL (DPL), Hess Corp. (HES), Minerals Technologies (MTX), Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), PPL Corp. (PPL), Southwestern Energy (SWN), Total (TOT), Whiting Petroleum (WLL), Williams Companies (WMB) and Wisconsin Energy (WEC).
Continue reading Week in Preview: The Earnings Crunch Rolls On (MSFT, COP, V)
Posted Feb 25th 2010 11:40AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Intel (INTC), Palm Inc (PALM), Analyst Initiations
Analyst Upgrades
- Deutsche Bank upgraded CME Group (CME) to buy from hold to reflect valuation and the company's improving trends. The firm raised its target price for shares to $325 from $320.
- JPMorgan upgraded Big Lots (BIG) to overweight from neutral. The firm believes the company's stabilizing comps and accelerating square foot growth should drive multiple expansion and raised its target price for shares to $38.
- Soleil upgraded PacWest Bancorp (PACW) to buy from hold as it views the company's bulk loan sale positively. The firm has a $24.50 target on the stock.
- Clean Harbors (CLH) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
- Skilled Healthcare (SKH) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
- FARO Tech (FARO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Needham.
Continue reading Analyst Calls: BIG, CME, GME, GOOG, INTC, PALM, YHOO ...
Posted Feb 9th 2010 10:40AM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: International Markets, Market Matters, Options
During a crisis, never mind what the media or government officials are saying, follow the money.
The Mercantile Exchange (CME) posts open contracts for each currency traded -- both long and short positions. By subtracting them you can get a sense of whether traders are net long or short. In the case of the euro, traders are net short 40,000 contracts or nearly $8 billion.
Meanwhile, officials of struggling countries, Greece, Spain and Portugal are telling the media that they have things under control. Elena Salgado, Spanish finance minister and Jose Manuel Campo, her deputy flew to London to meet with bondholders, the Financial Times reports. They want to reassure promises to cut Spain's budget deficit by 3% of GDP by 2013. But then the treasury wants to raise 116.7 billion euros.
Continue reading Traders Are Net Short the Euro by $8 billion
Posted Feb 8th 2010 12:50PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Exxon Mobil (XOM), AutoZone Inc (AZO), Analyst Initiations, Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM), Genzyme (GENZ)
Analyst upgrades:
- Jefferies upgraded CME Group (CME) to Buy from Hold and has a $330 target on the stock. The firm believes increased regulatory concerns have created a buying opportunity and notes that CME Group's fundamentals are stable-to-improving.
- Susquehanna upgraded Priceline.com (PCLN) to Positive from Neutral and has a $230 target on the stock. The firm believes Priceline.com likely outperformed expectations in Q4.
- Citigroup upgraded AutoZone (AZO) to Buy from Hold citing an attractive valuation, favorable industry trends, and the potential for margin expansion. The firm raised its target price on shares to $188 from $176.
- Genzyme (GENZ) was raised to Sell from Conviction Sell at Goldman.
- Disney (DIS) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.
- Exxon Mobil (XOM) was upgraded at Collins Stewart to Buy from Hold.
Continue reading Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: CME, AZO, XOM, DNB, GENZ ...
Posted Feb 6th 2010 11:40AM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Cisco Systems (CSCO), Time Warner (TWX), Exxon Mobil (XOM), AFLAC Inc (AFL), Avon Products (AVP), MasterCard Inc'A' (MA), News Corp'B' (NWS), Western Union (WU), Unilever ADR (UL), Visa Inc. (V)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:
- Aflac Inc. (AFL) posted better-than-expected Q4 earnings, though revenue fell short, and offered rosy guidance.
- Avon Products Inc. (AVP) posted Q4 earnings growth that met analysts' expectations but shares sold off.
- Cisco Systems inc. (CSCO) higher Q2 earnings topped the consensus estimate but cash flow fell.
- CME Group Inc. (CME) fell short of analysts' Q4 profit expectations, resulting in price-target cuts.
- ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) posted better-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue that boosted shares.
Continue reading Earnings Highlights: Aflac, Cisco, Exxon, MasterCard, Shell, Time Warner ...
Posted Feb 5th 2010 3:00PM by Elizabeth Harrow (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Analyst Reports, Technical Analysis

CME Group (
CME) fell short of analysts'
fourth-quarter profit expectations on Thursday, with the firm reporting earnings of $3.37 per share, compared to consensus expectations for a profit of $3.43 per share. This morning, two brokerage firms expressed their post-earnings skepticism by handing out price-target cuts.
Specifically, KBW lowered its forecast from $360 to $350, while Susquehanna chopped its price target from $370 to $345. Shares of CME finished Thursday at $269.29, so both brokerage firms are still anticipating some healthy gains from the stock during the next year. In fact, both targets exceed the equity's average 12-month price target of $342.35, as reported by Thomson Reuters, which implies expected upside of more than 27% from yesterday's close.
Continue reading CME Group Slapped with Post-Earnings Price Target Cuts
Posted Oct 4th 2009 11:00AM by Jim Woods (RSS feed)
Filed under: Options, Stocks to Buy
As an observer of financial markets, I've been stunned by the recent growth of options trading. Options and futures trading have become huge among individual investors, and the interest in the topic is only getting bigger.
So, who benefits most from the surge in options and futures trading? CME Group (NASDAQ: CME).
CME Group is the company that operates the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, the place where options and futures trades actually take place. Whenever you place an options or futures transaction, the only sure winner in the game is CME Group.
Continue reading Real bargain stock #8: CME Group (CME)
Next Page >