The bound folders lie side-by-side on a shelf in the research department of the Chicago Board of Trade. In the binders are proposed futures contracts. Bland reading, often quasi-legal boilerplate. But buried in the economic justifications, contract specifications and other mundane chapters, there may be the gleam of a nugget to dazzle and delight the world's financial community.
If this data should yield such treasure, it could mean gaining near total control of a product worth millions of dollars annually in clearing fees. It could also provide the chance to sweep into related products. And an exchange which produces successful new contracts can recoup its investment by raising floor membership prices.
Take the case of the immensely popular US Treasury bond futures contract of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBT). Since it was introduced in 1977, it has traded over 162 million contracts. In 1985, T-bonds alone generated about $10 million in clearing exchange fees and for 1986 they are expected to generate another $14 million. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange's (CME) innovative Standard & Poor's 500 stock index future produced over $7.5 million in exchange fees in 1985 alone.
Some research people say it's harder to unearth the gems now, but they still try.