FUTURESBUZZ.COM
FIGURE 1: THE HOMEPAGE OF FUTURESBUZZ.COM
Perhaps there will never come a day when mainstream information and
news about the futures and commodities markets will rival the information
and news available about the equity markets.
Until then, futures and commodities traders -- current and aspiring
-- will have to rely on websites like FuturesBuzz.com to keep abreast of
the diverse set of information and datapoints they need to get and stay
ahead of the game.
FuturesBuzz.com was founded back in 2000. According to its founders,
the website's original goal was twofold: First, they wanted to create a
one-stop portal for traders looking for sound, articulate information on
the futures and commodities markets. But second, the founders of FuturesBuzz.com
wanted to alert traders to a major problem in their industry: disreputable
brokers. As they wrote in the "About Us" section of the website:
"By telling the stories on how they defrauded investors, we believe
this will make investors more aware and hopefully avoid some of these schemes."
In a few short years, FuturesBuzz.com has grown from a futures truth
squad to that one-stop portal for those looking for charts, research, market
commentary, and analysis, as well as some of the basic "what you need to
know to trade futures" material such as commitment of traders reports,
trading calendars, and specifications for futures contracts.
FuturesBuzz.com still maintains its reformist character, most notably
with its "Check Broker's Complaint History" section. But even a glance
at the website will reveal how much broader FuturesBuzz.com has become.
The website's content is broken down into a few main categories: Updated
Data [sic], Industry News, Trading Resources, FuturesBuzz.com, and Research.
While these are categories rather than "departments," they do reflect the
kind of information available through FuturesBuzz as well as the kind of
information futures traders often demand.
The Updated Data section features links to quotes and charts, Commitment
of Traders reports, fundamentally oriented commodity research, and market
commentary from analysts from a variety of brokerages and advisory organizations
-- even academia. Another interesting feature is a ranking of performance
by managed funds -- managed commodity funds being one of the main tools
investors use in order to gain access to the commodities markets. The charts
provided are not just the traditional three- to nine-month bar charts,
but also include seasonal and long-term charts. The seasonal charts chronicle
commodity activity going back decades (for example, the sugar seasonal
chart goes back to 1963). The long-term charts are similarly tasty, with
monthly data for most commodities going back into the 1970s.
The Industry News section includes news (much of it in the form of press
releases) from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the
National Futures Association (NFA). The information here is mostly related
to the mechanics of the futures industry. There is also an interesting
subsection called "In Defense Of ..." which, while updated less frequently,
revolves around some of the controversies and debates taking place within
the futures industry. For example, one recent essay discussed the First
Amendment fight between the CFTC versus online financial newsletter publishers
and software designers.
A "WatchDog Corner" is a sort of America's Most Wanted of crooked financial
professionals and relates what the website authors refer to as "some of
the more interesting complaints" the CFTC has filed against both individuals
and organizations. By studying some of these cases, FuturesBuzz.com suggests,
average retail traders will be better able to defend themselves against
the con artists and charlatans who from time to time slither into the futures
business.
The Trading Resources section features a good amount of basic information
for traders, such as contract specifications, trading calendars, a glossary
of futures and commodities terminology, and primers on options and single-stock
futures. The Research category is mostly an opportunity for website visitors
to subscribe (a free trial is available) to a seasonal research service.
FuturesBuzz.com isn't a fancy futures website. But the site does seem
to make the most of its contributors; there is a diverse array of market
commentators and charts (the charts come courtesy of Barcharts.com). But
futures traders, or aspiring futures traders, who are looking for a solid
source of basic futures information -- and a few observations on the various
futures markets from professionals who know better -- will do themselves
a big favor by bookmarking FuturesBuzz.com just to check in every now and
then and see what the buzz in a given market is all about.
--David Penn, Technical Writer
Originally published in the November 2004 issue of Technical
Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine. All rights reserved. ©
Copyright 2004, Technical Analysis, Inc.
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