CHAMPAIGN, Ill. The Office for Futures and Options Research (OFOR) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will host its first symposium May 16 to commemorate the work of economist Raymond M. Leuthold and the 30th anniversary of the International Monetary Market.
The event will take place at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, 30 S. Wacker Drive (South Tower) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The symposium, including a luncheon and reception, are free but reservations are required by May 9. To make a reservation, call (877) 455-2687 (toll-free) or respond by means of the Web site at www.ace.uiuc.edu/ofor.
Leuthold, the Hieronymus professor of futures markets emeritus and the OFOR director at Illinois, will be honored for his contribution to agricultural pricing and risk management literature. The symposium will also address current and future economic and regulatory issues facing commodity futures exchanges.
Leutholds recent research has focused on the simultaneous management of multiple risks in the futures markets by firms such as cattle feeders and soybean processors who manage both input and output price risks and by foreign countries who export or import agricultural products while simultaneously managing interest rate and currency risks. He has written more than 160 books, monographs, journal articles, bulletins, reports and proceeding papers. Leuthold also has created two futures and options trading simulator computer programs, HedgeSim and TradeSim, which are used by hundreds of students nationwide.
Scheduled speakers include Todd Petzel, CIO of CommonFund; Richard Sandor, chairman and CEO of Environmental Financial Products LLC; Gary Bielfeldt, chairman of Bielfeldt and Co. LLC; and Leo Melamed, chairman emeritus and senior policy adviser of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.
