Foreign exchange
The rise of mechanistic hedging
Utility hedging gains wider acceptance, but companies still need to work harder to eliminate pure price-view hedging, writes Leigh Parkinson of RiskAdvisory
Leading the energy software revolution
The ETRM software industry is enjoying a long-awaited boom, meaning exciting developments are in store for energy trading and risk management, writes Stella Farrington
March 2006 - Relations with Russia revisited
As Europe becomes more dependent on Russia for oil and gas supplies, it endeavours to maintain good relations with Moscow, while at the same time looking for alternative ways of securing fuel
LNG moves offshore
Offshore LNG terminals not only circumvent environmental objections, they give suppliers global arbitrage opportunities. But are they economical, asks Catherine Lacoursiere
Full steam ahead
The rising cost of shipping fuel is causing more and more shipowners and commodity merchants to consider risk management strategies, and some sophisticated marine fuel trades are taking place as a result, writes Barry Parker
The chain gang
Supply chain management is becoming more important within energy companies, making liaising between the supply chain manager and the risk manager essential in order to avoid compromising operational risk, writes Raees Lakhani
March 2006 - LNG moves offshore
Offshore LNG terminals not only circumvent environmental objections, they give suppliers global arbitrage opportunities. But are they economical, asks Catherine Lacoursiere
Hedging weather exposure
Volumetric weather risk is usually levered by the commodity price, resulting in cross-commodity exposure known as a quanto. Hedging such exposure with quanto instruments is costly. Victor Dvortsov suggests a simple strategy that allows efficient hedging…
March 2006 - Interconnector - UK left in the cold
As UK gas prices soared at the start of the year, market watchers struggled to explain why cheaper European gas didn't flood into the UK. But as the UK becomes a net importer of gas, these sorts of market inefficiencies will become more prominent, writes…
Coping with setbacks
Most risk managers and employees in energy companies are familiar with the concepts of market risk and credit risk, but operational risk is receiving more attention in corporate boardrooms these days, writes Sandy Fielden
March 2006 - EFET Survey - Could do better
Gas transmission access systems across Europe must be improved significantly before efficient trading can take place, say gas traders in a recent poll conducted by the European Federation of Energy Traders
Recent developments in Latin American credit trading
Banks, suppliers and investors are increasingly focused on financial techniques to facilitate credit risk transfer in regional names
Hybrids on track in the US
Bankers predict hybrid capital volumes to intensify this year and reach as much as $65 billion
Mardig Haladjian
With more Islamic institutions looking for ratings, the general manager of the financial institutions group at Moody's in Cyprus explains how the agency rates these names versus conventional credits
South Africa New beginnings
Regional Focus
iBoxx inflates index offering
Inflation-Linked Bonds
Talking Point - Event risk
Single-name event risk is posing increasing challenges for bond investors. Credit asks whether idiosyncratic risk will force an underperformance in credit spreads this year
Hedge funds play it safe
Mezzanine Debt
Hedge trade error costs Nordea EUR20 million
The incorrect hedge registration by a trader went unnoticed for several weeks
Ever-decreasing tranches
Structured Credit
Payback time for Latin America
Brazil and Argentina have repaid in full the debt owed to the IMF. But while Brazil seemed grateful for the loan, Argentina's president made a bridge-burning speech attacking the Fund's policies. Josh Goodman looks at the two nations' economic outlook