Electronic Trading of Agricultural Products is now getting a jumpstart thanks to the Chicago Board of Trade and their scheduled launch of "Side-by-Side" Trading. It is scheduled to begin August 1st, 2006, and according to CBOT.com - here's some information on it: "The CBOT will expand electronic trading of its benchmark Agricultural futures to include daytime hours beginning August 1, 2006. Side-by-side trading allows customers to choose how they access the CBOT’s liquid agricultural markets. The CBOT will list physically delivered futures contracts for Corn, Wheat, Soybeans, Soybean Oil, Soybean Meal, Rough Rice and Oats during side-by-side trading hours on e-cbot beginning August 1, 2006. All contract months will be listed for trading on e-cbot, so their listing cycles will be identical between the floor and screen as it is today."

AS of July 11th, the CBOT's ag group had an average daily electronic volume of 27,937 futures contracts versus their 406,045 Open Auction contracts. Although there's still a wide gap, that will be closed quickly as more contracts are added.

mini-sized Corn - YC (traded at the Chicago Board of Trade):

Visit the CBOT's mini Corn section of their website by clicking here.

mini-sized Soybeans - YK (traded at the Chicago Board of Trade):

Visit the CBOT's mini-sized soybeans section of their website by clicking here.

mini-sized Wheat - YW (traded at the Chicago Board of Trade):

Visit the CBOT's mini-sized wheat section of their website by clicking here.

South American Soybean Futures (traded at the Chicago Board of Trade):

The CBOT is pleased to announce that customers will soon have the opportunity to trade South American Soybean (SAB) futures electronically duringChicago daytime hours. Beginning May 15, customers can choose to trade on e-cbot ® , the CBOT electronic trading platform, or the CBOT trading floor (side-by-side). Additionally, daytime trading will begin 30 minutes earlier for both trading platforms at 9:00 a.m. (Chicago time) to better serve our customers. The CBOT's move to side-by-side trading in South American Soybean futures provides customers: Superior, state-of-the-art technology – CBOT clients will have the opportunity of choice to either enter their orders to the CBOT trading floor, which features the most sophisticated order routing platform within the futures industry or they may utilize e-cbot, which features instant trade matching and straight-through processing. Increased Transparency – SAB futures traders will be able to see real-time price and quantity of all resting orders in the e-cbot order book. Enhanced Liquidity – In addition to the liquidity offered on the CBOT trading floor, buyers and sellers of South American Soybean futures will also be able to tap into liquidity provided by the worldwide distribution network of e-cbot, including more than 25,000 ISV screens and over 140,000 quote vender terminals. New Trading Opportunity – Customers can use the synergy created by simultaneous trading on two platforms to enhance current strategies and create new opportunities. Positions opened in open auction can be offset on the electronic trading platform and vise-versa. Expanded Trading Hours – Beginning May 15, 2006, SAB futures will be available for trading on e-cbot with the ticker symbol ZK from 6:31 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. (Chicago time). The open auction market will trade from 9:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. (Chicago time) using the ticker symbol BS.

Ethanol Futures (traded at the Chicago Board of Trade):

NOW AVAILABLE! The CBOT is pleased to announce that customers now have the opportunity to trade Ethanol futures electronically during the daytime hours of 9:30 am – 1:15 pm (Chicago time) with the ticker symbol ZE. View real-time live quotes for the CBOT Ethanol contract for free! An Electronic Market Maker is posting a continuous two-sided market. See the latest statistics on the CBOT Ethanol contract. New quote vendor ticker symbols for CBOT electronic Ethanol futures. VendorSystem Open Auction Electronic CBOT AC ZE CBOT Advantage AC ZE Bloomberg DLA DLA Barchart AK ZK CQG AC ACA DTN/ProphetX AC @ZE eSignal AC ZH Futuresource AX ZE Hyperfeed DU ZE Reuters* AC ZE Reuters/Bridge* us@AOC us@ze Track Data AC' AC'

E-Livestock  (traded at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange):

E-Livestock are identical to their pit-traded counterparts in all ways except the ticker symbol. For more information on trading E-Livestock, click here to visit the CME's website.

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