Euronext LIFFE and Eurex Merger

[readyaimfire]

I'm surprised no-one has started a thread on this subject,if they have and it is somewhere else on this forum then apologies.

Apparently Deutsche Boerse AG said it explored a merger with NYSE Euronext but that talks "ended without any conclusion"

Bloomberg.com: News

Everyone knows the daily trading volumes have collapsed,especially in the STIRs and other Fixed Income products.The share prices of the two Exchanges have also collapsed and are not recovering any time soon.

I wonder what would happen to the LIFFE arm of NYSE Euronext.It's common knowledge that their volumes are truly shocking,I've been reading elsewhere that they've actually had to pay Market Makers to make the market in the back reds of Short Sterling and the greens in Euribor - I mean,a contract as established as the Euribor and people don't even want to make a market unless they're paid to do so.That doesn't bode well.

Maybe if they shut down the London operation of LIFFE and moved the jobs abroad we might get cheaper fees?I've never found them very helpful over there anyway,how worse a job could anyone do?They're practically running the Exchange into the ground over there on a daily basis by the "helpdesk" team being the exact opposite of helpful and when a decision needs to be made they usually make the wrong one,how many people are pleased they made the Sterling half-tick?

I'm hoping the merger goes ahead,surely the traders are the ones who should benefit?

 

[DC STOXX]

LIFFE are going to literally be history soon just like the pits & LIFFE bund.
They deserve it,
They have no contracts anymore, FTSE is probably their flagship product and then thats it, There is a good thread about this on ET already except for the usual few baby traders chatting "A trader doesn't need liquidity to trade all he needs is range" bla bla bla....

 

[readyaimfire]

LIFFE are going to literally be history soon just like the pits & LIFFE bund.
They deserve it,
They have no contracts anymore, FTSE is probably their flagship product and then thats it, There is a good thread about this on ET already except for the usual few baby traders chatting "A trader doesn't need liquidity to trade all he needs is range" bla bla bla....

I know what you mean.I think it may be an impossible task for LIFFE to bring themselves back from this one.Their contracts are rubbish.The STIRs are a joke,so few people in my office trade them now it's like everyone's moved on and left them behind,I mean,stops go off in Sterling for 100+ ticks the week before Xmas and I've also now heard that the firm that was behind back-riding all the locals in 10,000 lot bids and offers and eventually demolished first them and then the contract itself are now a 'DMM' or Designated Market Maker in the STIRs so in fact are working with LIFFE - that's the worst possible news,what's the point in building up liquidity so in a couple of years an 'algo' hedge fund can destroy everyone again?Everyone I speak to just doesn't want to take the chance.

 

[arabianights]

I thought that was some polish firm that blew up?

Also have you read LIFFE's explanation for letting the sterling trades stand? It's ****ing hilarious, the reasoning was (paraphrased) "There was some selling pressure (810 lots iirc - how they kept a straight face calling that 'pressure', and obviously no one wanted to buy it since there were no bids in, so it was fine". Actually it then contradicts itself by going on about how long it took for bids to be submitted once it was down at those levels.

What a load of ****e.