Editorial - The big sell

What does Harris Brumfield really believe he will gain from his open demand for millions of dollars in payment from the world's futures exchanges? Two-and-a-half cents a side forever? Dream on. Don't be fooled by the smoke and mirrors here: this is a sales pitch. The possibility of exchanges acquiescing is a long-odds bet at best. But Harris is not looking to make a bet, he's looking to make a trade: the real purpose of this must surely be to talk up the value of his company before a sale.

Unless he is severely deluded, he must know that the exchanges simply could not hand over that kind of cash in this way without opening themselves to lawsuits from their shareholders. On the surface, the manifesto purports to be an attempt to bring pressure to bear on the exchanges by getting the futures industry as a whole on side. But...