First box-office futures contract approved for trading

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has cleared the way for trading in derivatives products based on box-office receipts. The first such contracts were approved yesterday - a collared futures contract and a binary call option contract on the opening-weekend revenues from the heist film Takers, due for release in August this year.

The contracts will be traded on the Trend Exchange, run by Media Derivatives (MDEX) of Chicago. MDEX and the Cantor Futures Exchange received CFTC approv