“Technically, you can trade anything, because wherever there is a financial interest, there can be a market,” said Andre Julian, chief financial officer of Option Investments Inc., an Irvine, Calif.-based independent broker for futures and options traders.
“People love stats, and movies are something people understand, which is why it could bring some regular people into the futures markets for the first time,” he said. “Of course, it might be more difficult if it was launched in the middle of a bull market, when there would be no reason to look beyond stocks.”
With a $50 trading minimum, the movie futures exchange clearly is hoping to attract a segment of retail-class investors and movie junkies, but once developed, the exchange could also become a vehicle to allow movie moguls to hedge their investments.
“If it costs a studio $200 million to make a movie, that studio could use this exchange to protect its investment by going short the same amount, and then if they’re losing money on the open market, they could make it back on the short side,” Mr. Julian said. “It all comes down to money, and there’s always somebody on the opposite side willing to make a trade.”
Best wishes to Richard Jaycobs.
