Catastrophe

What drives natural gas?

Natural gas prices in the US are at an all-time high. The Gulf Coast hurricanes and record summer heat have taken their toll, and business is feeling the effect. Studying and applying seasonality can often protect aganst the volatility of these markets,…

Katrina sparks model rethink

Demand for catastrophe bonds is unlikely to wane following the impact of Hurricane Katrina in August, despite question marks raised about hedge funds' appetite for taking on catastrophe risk in the aftermath of the disaster.

Shelter from the storm

Energy companies are showing increased interest in hurricane derivatives, a specialist product that can provide an additional layer of protection on top of insurance. Joe Marsh reports

A disciplined approach

E&P companies tend not to strategically hedge in a rising market. But there are good reasons for them to do so, and some are sticking to their hedging strategies, despite suffering losses on their derivatives contracts. By Joe Marsh

Fair weather future

Judging from the success of the weather risk market in the Asia-Pacific region,the Chicago Mercantile Exchange couldn’t have picked a more opportune timeto launch Japanese weather futures. By Paul Lyon

Geopolitical futures: The politics of betting

Using markets to forecast political events may not be as strange an idea as it seemed in July, when a terrorism futures scheme collapsed. But there is still scepticism as to whether such an approach would be ethical or effective.

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