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HEDGESTREET UNVEILS INCENTIVES FOR MARKET PARTICIPANTS
• Reduced Commissions for Active Traders
• New Account Minimum Funding Lowered to $100
• Innovative Retail Market Making Program
SAN MATEO, Calif., May 19, 2005 -- HedgeStreet Inc., the first U.S. government-designated online financial market that lets traders buy and sell innovative financial instruments based on economic events, today rolled-out a package of incentives designed to further enhance liquidity and make trading on the exchange even more accessible and cost efficient.
Under the terms of HedgeStreet's new "Active Trader Program", commissions for qualifying market participants have been reduced from a $5 flat fee to $0.05 per Hedgelet contract for trades of less than 100 Hedgelets. HedgeStreet members who trade more than 20 times in a calendar month qualify for the reduced commission schedule.
Hedgelets are unique financial instruments that do not exist on any other financial market and allow traders to hedge against or speculate on economic events.
HedgeStreet also said that the new account funding minimum has been lowered from $500 to $100.
"The Pricing Program that we've implemented speaks directly to our active retail customer-base and underpins the basic principle of why HedgeStreet was launched: to offer low-cost, innovative contracts that enable traders large and small to participate in a flexible, open and transparent marketplace," said Dr. John Nafeh, Founder and CEO of HedgeStreet.
HedgeStreet is also in the process of introducing its Retail Market Maker Program, which is intended to offer qualifying firms and individuals an opportunity to make a market by maintaining a spread on HedgeStreet's listed instruments. Incentives may include an initial fee holiday and long-term fee reductions, and a revenue sharing initiative, pending CFTC approval. Retail Market Makers can access the HedgeStreet Exchange via HedgeStreet Trader, a proprietary desktop application that allows users to place active quotes real-time.
"I am confident that our pioneering market maker program coupled with a competitive commission schedule will continue to attract market participants and deeper liquidity to HedgeStreet," added Nafeh.
About HedgeStreet
HedgeStreet Inc. is the only U.S. designated market that lets online investors trade innovative financial instruments based on economic events. A designated contract market (DCM) and a registered derivatives clearing organization (DCO), HedgeStreet is subject to regulatory oversight by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). For more information, visit www.hedgestreet.com.
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