Sources close to Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT) have dismissed suggestions that the exchange does not have the financial resources to fight a prolonged price war with Eurex US.
In a report issued last week, Jeffries analyst Charlotte Chamberlain said that despite its lacklustre start, "Eurex
US appears more likely to slowly chip away CBoT's prime business rather than retreat quickly, using their financial prowess to erode CBoT profitability."
However, sources close to CBoT told FO Week that, even with the February decision to slash fees by 65-75%, it could still pull in a profit this year. CBoT must pull in an average daily volume of 1.6m contracts to break even in 2004, it was claimed. A 2m per day volume, which looks easily attainable at...