Granted, this was debated some last summer, but this article on “terror futures” is still great food for thought. Download PDF here.

Two articles discussing the new exchange HedgeStreet.com:

Article 1

Article 2

Some other innovative exchanges include:

OneChicago

TradeSports

Of course before trading new instruments, always best to check for liquidity.

“As a contrarian investor I have been skeptical by default of trend following models. Still, after reading Michael Covel’s excellent and eye opening book about some professional traders, who with iron discipline follow market trends up and down and in the process achieve impressive capital gains, I find myself more inclined to endorse a trend following approach to investments. In fact, I wished that at times I would have had the kind of discipline the trend followers have in terms of entirely reversing their investment positions once the trend dictated such a posture. I think that Michael’s Trend Following is an outstanding read from which all investors can learn to trade markets better by limiting their risks and maximizing their profits through a more disciplined approach to investments.”
Marc Faber
Managing Director, Marc Faber Limited
Editor, Gloom, Boom & Doom Report

A deal to translate the book Trend Following into German has been signed.

Trend Following is currently the #1 book in the investing categories of 1.) stocks, 2.) futures and 3.) options at Amazon.com.

If you are still of the mindset that your local Merrill broker is the guy to talk to about your “money”, think again. An excerpt from the NY Times:

“For years, analysts have said that Merrill, as well as Morgan Stanley, a similar stand-alone investment bank, may have to merge with a larger commercial bank. But in recent months, the hum of speculation has taken on a higher pitch. The talk comes as the two firms’ stock prices continue to lag behind those of their peers: Merrill’s is down 20 percent from its high this year, while Morgan Stanley’s is off 23 percent from its 2004 peak. That both the future and the relevance of these two storied Wall Street institutions are being questioned at all is testimony to the broad changes in the financial landscape over the last few years. The Morgan Stanley name embodies the essence of white-shoe financial wisdom, dating to the 1930′s, when the firm was carved out of the original J. P. Morgan. For its part, Merrill Lynch, as the first Wall Street firm to popularize the idea of marketing stocks and bonds to small investors, symbolizes the idea of democratized stock ownership in America. Universal banks like Citigroup and J. P. Morgan, with their swollen balance sheets and ripe ambitions, are encroaching more than ever on Merrill’s and Morgan’s turf. European banks like Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are also looking to expand in the United States. Even onetime regional banks like Bank of America and Wachovia have been hiring droves of investment bankers and brokers. Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, in other words, are being squeezed on all sides. “The business models of these firms may not be sustainable,” said Richard Barrett, who runs the Credit Suisse First Boston investment banking unit, which is responsible for bank mergers. “Inevitably, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch should align with the big balance-sheet providers.”

Start making the transition now to running your money (or at least use a money manager) — as it appears days of chit chat with the friendly neighborhood broker may be going the way of the dinosaur. If you don’t bring value — what’s the point?