Chicago Board Of Trade Announces E-CBOT Launch Date

CBOT Senior Vice President of Business Development, Robert D. Ray, said, "This is the first time CBOT mini-sized Ag contracts will trade electronically overnight, providing global market participants with enhanced trading opportunities and offering customers, particularly in Asia, a contract sized to their needs and in a favorable currency (U.S. dollars)."

"In addition, these products will utilize CBOT's innovative process for directed fungibility allowing market participants the opportunity to offset mini-sized contracts against full-sized contracts as they near expiration. These mini-sized contracts will benefit from the arbitrage opportunities with the full-sized contracts, and the increasing liquidity during the European and Asian trading day."

The electronically traded mini-sized Ags will trade on the CBOT electronic trading platform on the overnight hours beginning at 6:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., Sunday through Friday. The electronically traded mini-sized Ag contracts are 1/5 the size of their full-sized counterparts, or 1,000 bushels and will trade under the symbols XC (mini-sized Corn), XB (mini-sized Soybeans) and XW (mini-sized Wheat). -- www.cbot.com