February 10, 2012: CFTC Requires Registration by Mutual Funds With Commodities; NYSE Euronext Chief Faces Up To Standalone Challenges; Eurozone dismisses Greek budget deal
The CFTC votes 4-1 to require commodity-including mutual funds to register with the agency. NYSE-E’s Duncan Niederauer faces a DB-less future, and surveys the coming challenges. In the latest episode of, “There Will Be Greece,” the Eurozone turns its back to the Mediterranean country’s latest budget cut package, calling it incomplete. In the top box, JLN Editor-in-Chief Jim Kharouf takes a swing at JLN Boss-of-All John Lothian’s opinion of CME Group’s CBOT Building deal; and John bids adieu to Jeremy Grant of the Financial Times (who is only moving to Singapore, not offworld).

A Bad Trade  
by John J. Lothian

Word broke yesterday that the CME Group had a buyer for the historic CBOT Building and the deal would close by June.  The price of the deal was $150 to $180 million.

I just have one question.  What numbskulls would sell a building at the corner of LaSalle and Jackson in Chicago?  My apologies for name calling, but I just find this stupid.  This is the greatest location in the Chicago financial district and it’s worth more in intangibles than all the money anyone could give me for this building.

The CME Group is a money machine.  It does not need the cash.  With interest rates low, this is the time to buy real estate, not sell it.

One Year Makes All the Difference
By John J. Lothian

A year ago at this time,  John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. was showing people something that we were working on behind the curtain; MarketsReformWiki.

We showed people the site and what we had, what we hoped to have and what we thought we needed.  On February 28, we will celebrate the one year anniversary of the launch of this global regulatory reform online tool.  The pressing question in the office is whether we will reach 1 million page views in the first year.  We just passed 900K this week.

February 9, 2012: CBOE Holdings, Inc. Announces Reorganization and Names New Officers; Eurex Futures Exchange Gets New Trading System; Brokers suspended in Libor inquiry
CBOE Holdings provides details of a major internal reorganization of management roles. Eurex announces that since it won’t be merging with NYSE-Euronext, it will replace its trading engine at the end of 2012. The Libor price-fixing investigation continues, and brokers in London and Asia are suspended or fired as the inquiry deepens. In a fully-packed top box today, John Lothian shines a spotlight on MarketsReformWiki; he also takes aim at CME Group’s plans to sell the CBOT Building; Nicole Rohr has a piece about the upcoming Futures For Kids charity walk; and Sarah Rudolph provides a JLN Options interview with Steve Crutchfield of NYSE Amex.