Stretched Valuations, Yet Futures Exchanges Look Attractive

All of the publicly traded futures exchanges have had terrific runs since their IPO price. I have supported all of them since I started this blog. If you were only to own one I would buy the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Technology is crucial to the future of derivative trading and the CME Globex electronic platform should continue to drive high margin electronic trades. With owning the CME you get the CBOT and part of the Nymex (NMX) electronic trading. The advantage of owning a futures exchange is that both sides of a futures contract have to be traded on the exchange it was first purchased/sold on. With stocks, you can buy or sell shares on an NYSE listed company on the NYSE, Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago, or Pacific exchange. The futures exchanges have a clear advantage over the NYSE (NYX).

Publicly Traded Futures Exchanges
CME/CBOT (CME) (PEG Ratio = 1.85)
Intercontinental Exchange/NYBOT (ICE) (PEG Ratio = 2.53)
Nymex/Comex (NMX) (PEG Ratio = 2.22)


Note: I am long NMX