CME Group Launches New Natural Gas and Power Markets

CHICAGO, Sept. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced the launch of a broad suite of new natural gas and power markets.

These new contracts will be listed as futures on CME Globex, the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) trading floor and CME ClearPort, and will be available for trading on CME Direct, a sophisticated platform offering side-by-side trading and straight-through processing and clearing of exchange-listed and over-the-counter (OTC) energy markets. This follows the May introduction of CME Direct, which offered industry participants access to CME Group's suite of global benchmark energy products, including Henry Hub Natural Gas.

"The addition of these contracts vastly expands the breadth of listed products offered on CME Direct and offers our customers in the natural gas and power markets new trading strategies that better meet their needs," said Gary Morsches, Managing Director, Global Energy at CME Group. "This offers a fuller, more robust trading and clearing solution for our customers as they manage risk in the energy markets."

The new natural gas and power product suite includes 164 natural gas contracts available at 52 trading hubs and 48 power contracts for the four most liquid North American ISOs. It also offers market participants several new trading strategies including calendar strip and strip spread pricing, intra-month calendar strip trade pricing, cross basis swaps, and ISO and DART spreads for the power markets. All of these contracts are listed by and subject to the rules of the NYMEX.

"With unparalleled access to CME Group's listed and aggregated OTC markets, CME Direct provides  a highly automated, sophisticated new way for the natural gas and power industry to execute their trading strategies," said Michel Everaert, Managing Director, OTC Solutions. "CME Direct's global distribution and real-time access allows market participants who have never used our services to access our markets and benefit from our risk management products."

CME Direct launched in May 2012 supporting trading for CME Group's energy complex, which has average daily trading volumes of approximately 1.9 million contracts. CME Group recently announced the launch of CME Direct Messenger, an instant messaging platform for energy traders, as part of CME Direct. For more information on CME Direct, please visit www.cmegroup.com/trading/cme-direct/index.

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk.  CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and real estate.  CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex^® electronic trading platform and its trading facilities in New York and Chicago.  CME Group also operates CME Clearing, one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, which offers clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded contracts and over-the-counter derivatives transactions. These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk.

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe Logo, CME, Globex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and the Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are registered trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.

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SOURCE CME Group