Okay. Somebody please explain what this means. I’ve been to the CME and I’ve reported on commodity futures prices for years. I still think it’s all about buying and selling something that only exists as a figment of someone’s imagination. Usually people with a lot more money they can risk than I can!

CME Commences Trading of ETF Futures

CHICAGO, June 7, 2005 – CME, the largest U.S. futures exchange, today announced that trading of futures contracts on two of the largest and most actively traded Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the U.S, the NASDAQ-100® Index Tracking Stock (ticker: QQQQ) and the S&P 500® Depositary Receipts (ticker: SPY) began yesterday. A third futures contracts the iShares Russell 2000® (ticker: IWM) will begin trading on Monday, June 20th. All three ETF futures contacts trade on the exchange’s CME® Globex® electronic trading platform. The futures on the S&P 500 and NASDAQ-100 trade exclusively at CME.

The release describes ETF’s as “baskets of securities designed to track an index.” That really cleared the whole thing up for me. I wish them well.

For more information contact Anita S. Liskey, 312/466.4613 or Pamela Plehn, 312/930.3446.