As a local on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), Dan Dicker traded thousands of contracts a day. He loved the pit, loved the action. He left the floor when Nymex had its IPO and, like other members, walked out a multi-millionaire. But his trading — and global viewpoint — changed and he’s often asked to provide his opinion and analysis across the airwaves, from TheStreet.com to OilPrice.com. But it’s his writing that is most provocative and he doesn’t hold back. We asked him to give us...

AlphaMetrix President and CEO Aleks Kins sent a letter to its pool participants today notifying them of "significant cash flow issues" within the parent company that will delay fee rebates to third party money managers and participants of its pool. Further, the CPO has not paid management or incentive fees to third party managers. For a copy of the letter. AlphaMetrix terminates CFO as cash shortfall hits commodity fund In her many years covering the futures industry Ginger has interviewed...

After much discussion and months of debate, the Customer Asset Protection Insurance (CAPI) for U.S. futures market customers study was released today. The study, commissioned by the CME Group, Futures Industry Association, Institute for Financial Markets and the National Futures Association, and done by Compass Lexecon, had two key conclusions: Reinsurers had indicated some interest to offer private, voluntary CAPI, although details and costs were not known. And for government-mandated CAPI,...

Two years ago when asked in an interview on CNBC whether private equity was good for individual investors, Investure CEO Alice Handy said, “I understand why the industry would want to be in 401(K)s [but] it’s sort of crazy for the average investor.” She went on to point out that the illiquidity in private equity funds, where lockups can run as long as 10 years, high fees and lack of transparency and regulation. Despite these limitations, private equity funds as an asset class have had...

The world according to the Global Industry Classification Standard for stocks is changing, and investors need to understand the new world order. It starts with the elevated importance of real estate. Growth has been so phenomenal that S&P Dow Jones Indices and MSCI, which developed and oversee the GICS, are moving real estate out of the financial sector space that it has historically occupied and creating a separate standalone sector for real estate, effective Sept. 19. “The real estate...