Carbon Emissions

 

In 2005 the European Union introduced the European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) in order to meet the environmental standards defined by the Kyoto protocol and other regulatory frameworks.

 

With more than 10,000 European installations regulated by the EU ETS it remains the most ambitious environmental initiative worldwide and offers market participants hedging opportunities in trading European Union Allowances (EUA) and Certified Emission Reduction (CER).

Natural Gas

 

Once considered an ineffective by-product of oil production, natural gas is steadily finding a foothold in today's world. Economical, environmentally friendly and efficient, natural gas is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, and technologies are improving the way it is captured, transported and distributed across Western European markets, including the major liquid hubs, NBP (UK) and TTF (Holland).

 

As more efficient and inexpensive ways of liquefying natural gas are developed, it is steadily inching its way closer to becoming a viable fuel alternative for the future.

 

European Power

 

European Power is currently traded as physical and financial electricity future contracts in most established European power markets such as Germany, Benelux, France, Spain, UK, Italy, Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland as well as Eastern European countries.

 

It is possible to optimize cross-border opportunities by purchasing capacity and flowing power between various locations. Next to the standard products there is also a high demand for optimising assets through tolling agreements, structured profiles and various financing arrangements.

Coal

 

Over the last twenty years, seaborne trade in steam coal has increased on average by about 8% each year, while seaborne coking coal trade has increased by 2% a year. A significant fact has been the growth in China and India, which has made supply and demand patterns more strained.

 

At the same time intercontinental flows and arbitrage create volatile relations between coal prices in different areas. This includes financial coal trading with swaps and options on API#2  (CIF ARA) and API#4 (FOB Richards Bay).

CRUDE OIL

 

In the international petroleum industry, crude oil products are traded on various oil bourses based on established chemical profiles, delivery locations, and financial terms.

 

The three most quoted oil products are North America's West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), North Sea Brent Crude, and the UAE Dubai Crude, and their pricing is used as a barometer for the entire petroleum industry, although, in total, there are 46 key oil exporting countries.

 

FX

 

Unlike stocks, futures or options, currency trading does not take place on a regulated exchange. It trades 24 hours a day, from 5pm EST Sunday to 4pm EST Friday, and it rarely has any gaps in price. Its sheer size and scope (from Asia to Europe to North America) makes the currency market the most accessible market in the world.

 

80% of trades in the currency market are speculative in nature, put on by large financial institutions, multibillion dollar hedge funds and even individuals who want to express their opinions on the economic and geopolitical events of the day.