London’s futures and options industry joins forces with the foreign exchange community to slog 35 miles plus on 4 routes to the City next May for children’s charities.

City-based Trade Associations FOA and ACI UK team up to support effort

EUREX to sponsor Checkpoint Infrastructure and Finish Line Celebration 

Futures for Kids (FFK) is pleased to announce plans for a greatly extended ‘Walk to Work’ to take place on Friday May 18^th 2012.

Encouraged by the success of the pioneering inaugural 2011 event which raised £48k for 3 FFK charities the organisation, formed by London-based participants in the exchange-traded derivatives industry in 2008, has been looking at ways to broaden participation from the financial community and, of course, to greatly increase funds raised.

Here is a picture of me in the kilt I wore to meet Jeremy Grant’s fundraising challenge for Futures For Kids.  The Financial Times’ Jeremy Grant had challenged me to wear a kilt to the gala dinner for the International Derivatives Week Futures for Kids Gala Dinner.  He promised £100 if I did and encouraged me to find other donors.

With the help of some industry friends I raised over £3000 through a combination of gifts via the http://www.justgiving.com/John-Lothian site and some checks directly to Futures for Kids.

Thank you to all who gave to the Kilt Challenge and Futures for Kids.

Jeremy wants this to be an annual challenge and has empowered me to pick the next kilt wearer.

-John J. Lothian

Key derivatives industry executives take on a 36 mile slog for Futures for Kids

Some thirty London-based futures industry executives will ‘walk to work’ tomorrow from Tunbridge Wells to the City of London. Not that they’ll get much done when they arrive, exhausted and footsore at about 6pm in the evening.

The brainchild of a couple of industry executives, Tony Foreman of Progress Apama and Simon Vincent of Flextrade, the FFK Walk to Work is raising funds for three children’s charities with a mix of local, regional and international coverage – Demelza House, Hope HIV and Everychild.
Instead of spending the time pontificating about straight through processing, latency or the ‘flash crash’ during one daily commute from Tunbridge Wells Tony and Simon challenged each other to walk to work in the City. They approached Futures for Kids who agreed to put the event together along with their charities and the Walk to Work was born. The inaugural walk will take place tomorrow, Friday May 20th.

Several industry luminaries have joined the team including FFK’s chairman, Bill Templer, Morgan Stanley ; Anthony Belchambers, CEO of the Futures and Options Association; Ferdinand Peelen of Nasdaq OMX and OSTC’s Jonny Aucamp and Rob Brophy.
Other industry organisations are supporting the Walk with RTS Realtime Systems supplying Tee Shirts for all the entrants and Eurex sponsoring the checkpoints and refreshment stops.

In addition to the 36 mile hike starting at 6am at Tunbridge Wells there are also ‘joining points’ at Dunton Green (20 miles) and Chislehurst (11 miles). The team hope to be striding (or limping) through Canary Wharf between 5 and 6 pm and entering the City shortly afterwards, hopefully collecting more donations on the way.

The FFK team has now raised almost £30k in pledges and anybody wishing to contribute can select their favourite futures industry characters at http://www.justgiving.com/teams/walktowork2011

Or make a donation to the team as a whole at http://www.justgiving.com/walktowork2011

Contacts – David Setters david@contango.co.uk 07710 271291/Emma Davey davey@foa.co.uk 0207 090 1348

Econ Illinois to host American Dream dinner event on Thursday, April 28, 2011

Join business associates and friends for an evening of socializing, networking and good food while supporting the mission to help all children in Illinois receive a sound financial education.

Econ Illinois, a nonprofit organization celebrating 60 years of service to schools and teachers in Illinois, will host its annual American Dream dinner event on Thursday, April 28th at the Art Institute of Chicago. Funds raised from the event will go to support economic and financial literacy education for K-12 students throughout Illinois.

left to right: Susan Chamberlain, Kathleen Cheevers and Laura Yunger get ready to ring the opening bell at the Chicago Stock Exchange.

Non-profit organization for professionals in the alternatives industry, 100 Women in Hedge Funds, commemorated its 10-year anniversary with celebrations in New York, London, Zurich, Chicago and Toronto on Jan. 24. In Chicago, about 20 women gathered at Cheevers & Company, Inc. to watch representative of the industry nonprofit and founder of Cheevers & Company, Kathleen Cheevers, ring the opening bell at the Chicago Stock Exchange.

Cheevers & Company has been involved with 100 Women in Hedge Funds for about a year. The non-profit organization launched in 2001 as a small network to assist women on the alternative investment side. The group has grown into a global organization with 10,000 members across 14 locations.

“It is very exciting to see all the women involved in the fund side,” said Cheevers. “Since I started, there are more women in the business overall, but less on the execution and brokerage side.”

http://www.altso.org/rocktoberfest/

 Last night in Chicago, the Futures Industry Association was honored by the Greater Chicago Food Depository for being one of its top donors. Other honorees included the Chicago White Sox, General Electric, The Citadel Foundation and Kraft Foods.

Accepting a plate from GCFD is FIA President John Damgard.

THE MOST FUN AFTERNOON FOR YOUR FAMILY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER…

What could be better than a really fun, very affordable, afternoon of amazing activities for the kids, with great food and prizes on a cold Sunday afternoon…with football on large flat-screen TVs??

Answer: The fact that this tax-deductible donation will go toward saving the life of one of our own little boys and so many children suffering with a deadly disease now!

We really hope you will join us this Sunday!Event Details:

The Lakeshore Athletic Club will be hosting: A Birthday Bash Against Batten: A Family Day of Play’ To Fight Rare Childhood Disease

Sunday, January 24, 1-4 pm (Chicago): Chicago families will be gathering at Lakeshore Athletic Club on Fullerton, to celebrate an incredibly inspiring effort which so many school children started this past Spring on behalf of one of their own, Jasper Duinstra. This fun afternoon of activities, sports, auction, food and prizes will also be a celebration of Jasper’s 5th Birthday. For only a $20 donation per child ($15 in advance), activities such as swimming, obstacle course runs, tennis, arts and crafts, basketball, and dance will be offered throughout the afternoon for children ages 3-10. There will be storytelling, face painting and Balloon animals as well and a Pokemon Trading Room will be set up for kids who want to trade cards. A silent auction will be held throughout the event, which will be MC’d by ABC anchor Ravi Baichwal and local vendors will be providing great food.

Jasper was diagnosed in March with a rare, fatal disease called Batten in which he is currently losing his ability to walk, to see, to speak and to think. At this point, children with Batten Disease are likely to lose their lives between the ages of 8 and 12. Nearly 20 Chicago schools: administrators, teachers, and families have supported their children’s citywide effort to change the fate for Jasper and other kids and in doing so, will now help children with other orphan diseases get more near-term treatments as well. By helping fund research that will likely stop the progression of this disease and others and by working to fast-track promising treatments legislatively, many children’s lives will be saved.

Best Buy, Jock’s Bar and Grill, Starbucks, Reinhart Food Service, NYC Bagel and Deli, Alpha Baking, Devil Dawgs, Trader Joes, Caffe Baci, and Uncle Sammy’s will be among those sponsoring this event, providing great prizes and food.

For more information and to buy tickets, please go to www.JasperAgainstBatten.org or one of the Lakeshore Athletic Club facilities.

IF you wish to volunteer to help with event, please contact: Alana Baum at 312-729-5212. (IF YOUR CHILD WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE POKEMON TRADING ROOM-DON’T FORGET YOUR CARDS)

Don’t miss the 20th anniversary party! The NYMEX Foundation’s 3rd annual live auction evening fundraiser is Thursday, November 19, 2009 from 5PM – 8PM on CME Group’s NYMEX World Headquarters trading floor at One North End Avenue in New York City with entertainment featuring Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals. Tickets are $150.00 each and can be purchased in advance by calling 212 299 2775.

Over 600 guests are expected to participate from the financial industry and help raise funds for children in need.The silent online auction, www.nfauction.cmarket.com went live on Monday, November 2, 2009 and will run through Monday, November 23, 2009. The online silent site is offering over 100 different items for bidding, and new prizes will be added weekly.

You can access the online site or obtain information about the NYMEX Foundation by going on their website www.nymexfoundation.org .Thanks to the generous support of the trading community, the NYMEX Foundation has raised an average of $1 million each year for the past four years towards their mission of supporting children in need primarily in the NY tri-state area.

New Jersey Nets to join First Annual Event to Fight Incurable Pediatric Disease

NEW YORK, September 21, 2009 – On October 1st, The First Annual Capstone Global Markets Charity Day will support research focused on finding a cure to Batten Disease, a rare but fatal neurodegenerative disorder affecting children. The boutique derivatives broker dealer has committed to donating 100% of its net commissions that day to The Jasper Against Batten Fund. The newly created annual event is part of Capstone’s commitment to giving back to the global community regardless of the macro financial environment. Every year, Capstone Global

Markets will select specific charities to donate to, each with the common goal of helping children.

Jasper Duinstra is a 4-year old boy who was diagnosed with Batten Disease in March 2009, and has subsequently been experiencing seizures, deteriorating vision, limited vocabulary and paralysis in his legs. After the urgency of finding a cure for Batten Disease was brought to the attention of representatives of The New Jersey Nets, the basketball team committed to joining Capstone Global Markets on October 1st to raise money for the cause. The New Jersey Nets’ involvement at the fundraiser will be highlighted by the participation of Nets president Rod Thorn, general manager (and former New York Knicks player) Kiki Vandeweghe, the Nets dance team and the Nets mascot. Each will be involved in thanking clients for their business and discussing the importance of the cause.

“We created this event to bring public awareness of this devastating disease and the urgency of Jasper’s need for support,” said Paul Britton, CEO of Capstone Holdings Group, LLC. “We are pleased with the enthusiasm from our clients to join us in this mission to help Jasper and other children affected by Batten Disease. Capstone Global Markets is committed to helping charities dedicated to helping children.”

Batten Disease is a rare, fatal autosomal recessive inherited disease of the nervous system that begins in childhood. Symptoms of the disorder usually appear around ages 4-10, with the onset of a series of degenerative symptoms including seizures, vision impairment, deteriorating mental acuity and declining motor skills. Today, Batten

Disease is always fatal. However, researchers are engaged. Scientists at Cornell University in New York are working on a gene therapy that offers hope, but funding is acute.

Jasper Against Batten Fund has teamed up with Partnership for Cures, a charitable non-profit 501(c)3 foundation. All donations are tax deductible. For more information, please visit www.jasperagainstbatten.org.

“There is significant momentum already toward finding a cure for Batten Disease,” concluded Mr. Britton. “Our hope is that Capstone Global Markets’ donation will help fund the research that will enable so many families to find a better tomorrow with their kids.”

About Capstone Global Markets, LLC

Capstone Global Markets, LLC is an affiliate of Capstone Holdings Group, LLC. Capstone Global Markets is a boutique broker dealer specializing in volatility trading strategies. The firm trades across equities, commodities, currencies, credit and fixed income markets. Capstone Global Markets provides institutional clients with access to markets in the U.S. and has a U.K. affiliate that provides access to markets in Europe. The firm’s platform is based on cutting-edge technology, dynamic volatility analysis and trading strategies, and an investment in distinguished human capital.