Billydakidd
4 years ago
I’m thinking buy !
Exchange Owner Bets on Digital Mortgages -- WSJ
Source: Dow Jones News
By Alexander Osipovich
This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (August 7, 2020).
Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said it would acquire mortgage-software firm Ellie Mae, a landmark bet by the exchange giant on the digitization of the U.S. mortgage industry.
The deal between Atlanta-based ICE and private-equity firm Thoma Bravo is valued at about $11 billion, including $9.25 billion in newly issued debt and $1.75 billion in stock. It is expected to close in the third or fourth quarter of 2020, pending regulatory approval.
Ellie Mae's technology has been used to help automate the closing of millions of home loans. Based in Pleasanton, Calif., the firm handles the technology that underpins the entire home-loan origination process, and its services are used in particular by loan officers who work at nonbank mortgage lenders, analysts say.
Thoma Bravo acquired Ellie Mae last year for $3.7 billion in cash.
Ellie Mae's revenue has grown rapidly since the Thoma Bravo acquisition last year, in part because the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the use of its digital tools, ICE Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Sprecher told analysts Thursday on a conference call about the deal.
Asked about the deal's price tag, ICE executives said they expected Ellie Mae's business to keep growing at a fast clip for the next decade. Mr. Sprecher said ICE would also profit from the transaction by amassing a huge trove of mortgage data, which it would sell alongside the financial data that it already sells from ICE's markets.
"We will be the de facto source of information for the U.S. mortgage market," Mr. Sprecher said.
ICE's shares dropped 2.5% in after-hours trading as investors digested the cost of the deal.
ICE has been stepping up its presence in the mortgage market during the past several years, in a bet that the cumbersome, often paper-based process of closing a mortgage deal will go digital in the coming decades.
In 2018, ICE acquired 100% of the parent company of Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems, a national electronic registry for tracking servicing rights and ownership interests for U.S. mortgage loans. Last year ICE acquired Simplifile, a firm that facilitates electronic processing of mortgage records, in a $335 million deal.
Acquiring Ellie Mae would put ICE closer to the origination of home loans, expanding its reach to the mortgage lenders, brokers and other players that come together before a loan is closed. ICE's current mortgage business is more focused on warehousing and processing data on home loans after they close.
Ultimately, automating all of those processes will make it faster and easier for home buyers to get mortgages, ICE executives said. Mr. Sprecher noted on the conference call that it takes around 100 steps, thousands of pages of documents and up to two months to close a mortgage.
"Mortgages are so analogue, and the process underneath them is so kludgy, that there is a real opportunity to clean them up and ultimately make it easier for those mortgages to be sold to investors," he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.
The deal comes as the Mortgage Bankers Association expects mortgage originations to hit their highest level this year since 2005. Even as the coronavirus has battered the U.S. economy, record-low interest rates have spurred a boom in refinancings, while a tight housing supply has kept home prices high, with young families moving to the suburbs and wealthy city dwellers looking for second homes.
ICE executives said on a quarterly earnings call last week that the mortgage business had become the fastest-growing part of the company, although it still accounts for a relatively small part of ICE's total revenue. Mortgage-related revenue rose to $98 million in the first six months of 2020, from $48 million a year earlier, an increase primarily driven by the Simplifile deal, the company said. ICE posted more than $6 billion in total revenue last year.
The Ellie Mae acquisition is the largest-ever deal for ICE, which was founded 20 years ago as a small electricity-trading platform and has since grown into a global exchange operator through a series of deals.
Led by Mr. Sprecher, ICE has a history of jumping into businesses in the process of transitioning from analogue to digital. In the 2000s the company did a series of deals in which it acquired futures exchanges and closed down their old-fashioned trading floors to convert them into all-electronic markets.
frenchee
17 years ago
Intercontinental Makes Deal
To Establish Coal Contracts
A WSJ News Roundup
April 3, 2008; Page C14
IntercontinentalExchange Inc., the Atlanta operator of global derivatives exchanges and over-the-counter markets known as ICE, and globalCOAL, an electronic marketplace for thermal coal, agreed to develop and launch two new coal-futures contracts at ICE Futures Europe.
ICE Futures Europe plans to launch a financially settled futures contract based on the globalCOAL NEWC Index in this year's third quarter. The index is based on bids, offers and trades on the globalCOAL trading platform, with delivery in Newcastle, Australia. It is the leading reference point for over-the-counter trading in Asian coal markets, the exchanges said.
ICE and globalCOAL, which is operated by Global Coal Ltd., of London, also will work to develop a physically delivered coal-futures contract that it plans to launch later in the year, with delivery points in the Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam region, the main European hub for oil and coal trading.
The new contracts will be complementary to existing financially settled coal-futures contracts listed by ICE Futures Europe, the exchange said.
A competitor to ICE, Nymex Holdings Inc.'s New York Mercantile Exchange, a global energy-and-commodity-futures exchange, offers a coal-futures contract on domestic U.S. coal from central Appalachia.
"The development of futures is the next stage in the commoditization of the coal market," Eoghan Cunningham, globalCOAL's chief executive, said in a statement.
Like other commodities, coal prices have soared in the past year in response to rising demand, especially in growing areas such as China. About 40% of the electricity produced in the world comes from coal. Trading volume in futures and options contracts tied to commodities has soared, as well.
rayrohn
19 years ago
ICE Futures Sets New Exchange-wide Record and Brent Crude Record
Brent-WTI Spread Trades Now Available with a Single Click
ATLANTA, March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), the leading electronic energy marketplace, announced a second consecutive day of record volume in its futures business segment. Exchange- wide volume at ICE Futures on March 9 reached a record 391,016 contracts, which surpassed the March 8 record of 385,505 contracts.
Trading in the benchmark IPE Brent Crude futures contract yesterday set a new daily volume record of 232,995 contracts, compared to the previous record of 230,922 contracts established on August 10, 2005. Open interest in the Brent contract stands at 397,163.
Also yesterday, ICE Futures began listing Brent-WTI Crude futures spreads covering 39 months in its electronic markets. Execution of spread trades between the IPE Brent Crude futures contract and the ICE WTI Crude futures contract are now available with a single click. The margin offset for the crude futures contracts is 85% through LCH.Clearnet.
About IntercontinentalExchange
IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE) operates the leading electronic global futures and OTC marketplace for trading energy commodity contracts, including crude oil and refined products, natural gas, power and emissions. ICE conducts its markets for futures trading through its
regulated subsidiary, ICE Futures (formerly the International Petroleum Exchange, or IPE), Europe's leading energy futures and options exchange. ICE also offers a range of risk management and trading support services, including cleared OTC contracts, electronic trade confirmations and energy market data. ICE's common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on November 16, 2005. ICE is based in Atlanta, Georgia with offices in Calgary, Chicago, Houston, London, New York and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.theice.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Statements in this press release regarding IntercontinentalExchange's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Reg. No. 333-123500), as amended, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Company's other filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. SOURCE IntercontinentalExchange
-0- 03/10/2006
/CONTACT: Kelly Loeffler, VP, Investor and Public Relations of IntercontinentalExchange, +1-770-857-4726, or kelly.loeffler@theice.com; or Ellen Resnick of Crystal Clear Communications, +1-773-929-9292, or cell, +1-312-399-9295, or eresnick@crystalclearPR.com/
/Web site: http://www.theice.com/ -- CLF013 -- 1552 03/10/2006 08:30 EST
rayrohn
19 years ago
Trading in ICE WTI Crude Futures Hits Three Major Milestones: More Than One Million ...
Show HeadlinesIntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), the leading electronic energy marketplace, announced three major milestones reached in the new ICE West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude futures contract launched February 3 at ICE Futures. As of March 8, total trading volume since launch exceeded the one million contract mark, as open interest exceeded 100,000 for the first time. The contract also achieved two consecutive days of record volume on March 7 and 8 of over 70,000 contracts.
Also on Wednesday, ICE Futures reached a new exchange-wide daily record of 385,505 contracts, 5.9% above the previous daily record of 364,064 contracts on February 7, 2006. In addition, the IPE Gas Oil futures traded at ICE Futures posted a new daily record of 98,474 contracts, exceeding the previous daily record of 94,646 contracts traded on January 11, 2006.
ICE WTI Crude futures set two consecutive volume records, with 70,500 contracts traded on March 7 and 71,174 contracts traded on March 8, compared to the previous record established on February 15 of 61,601 contracts. As of the close of trading yesterday, open interest in the contract reached 102,196 contracts. Total volume in ICE WTI Crude futures from February 3 through March 8 stands at 1,111,794 contracts.
The ICE WTI Crude futures contract trades electronically 21 hours a day, five days a week in the 37 jurisdictions globally where ICE Futures screens have been approved, including the U.S., the U.K., and throughout continental Europe and Asia. The ICE WTI Crude futures contract trades continuously from 1:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. local London time, or from 8:00 p.m. through 5:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Each crude futures contract is sized at 1,000 barrels, with the contract price quoted in U.S. dollars
and cents per barrel. The minimum price fluctuation is one cent per barrel, equivalent to a tick value of $10.00. A fee waiver on execution is in place for the ICE WTI Crude futures contract from launch through March 31, 2006. Thereafter, a contract execution fee of $0.70 per side will be in effect.
About IntercontinentalExchange
IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE) operates the leading electronic global futures and OTC marketplace for trading energy commodity contracts, including crude oil and refined products, natural gas, power and emissions. ICE conducts its markets for futures trading through its regulated subsidiary, ICE Futures (formerly the International Petroleum Exchange, or IPE), Europe's leading energy futures and options exchange. ICE also offers a range of risk management and trading support services, including cleared OTC contracts, electronic trade confirmations and energy market data. ICE's common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on November 16, 2005. ICE is based in Atlanta, Georgia with offices in Calgary, Chicago, Houston, London, New York and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.theice.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Statements in this press release regarding IntercontinentalExchange's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the benefits associated with ICE WTI Crude futures. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Reg. No. 333-123500), as amended, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE IntercontinentalExchange
Kelly Loeffler, VP, Investor and Public Relations of IntercontinentalExchange,
+1-770-857-4726, or kelly.loeffler@theice.com; or Ellen Resnick of Crystal Clear
Communications, +1-773-929-9292, or cell, +1-312-399-9295, or
eresnick@crystalclearPR.com
rayrohn
19 years ago
ICE Reports Record Monthly Futures Volume on 82% Rise in February; 73% Increase in OTC Commissions
Friday March 3, 8:30 am ET
ATLANTA, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE - News), the leading electronic energy marketplace, today reported its second consecutive month of record volume in its futures business segment and an increase of 73.2% in trading commissions in its over-the-counter (OTC) business segment for the month of February. Volume at ICE Futures, the company's futures business segment, increased 81.8% over last February.
Fueling the growth again were the entry of new participants into ICE's electronic markets and expanded levels of trading in futures and OTC markets by existing customers.
ICE also reported solid volume in the newest product at ICE Futures, with average daily volume in the new ICE WTI Crude futures contract of 41,858 from the February 3 launch through the end of the month. Excluding trading on President's Day, a U.S. holiday during which the ICE Futures markets were open for trading, average daily volume was 43,955 contracts. On two occasions since the launch of the product, daily volume exceeded 58,000 contracts. The contract has recorded the strongest start of any new product in ICE Futures' history. Open interest in the ICE WTI Crude Futures contract on February 28 stood at 71,603.
OTC Business Segment
In ICE's OTC business segment, average daily commissions reflect daily trading activity in the company's OTC markets. In February 2006, ICE's average daily commissions increased to $421,205, up 73.2% compared to $243,231 in February 2005. Growth in average daily commissions was driven primarily by the continued expansion of ICE's cleared OTC product volumes, particularly in natural gas and power. On February 3, 2006, ICE transitioned its cleared OTC WTI crude oil bullet swap contract into the new ICE WTI Crude futures contract.
OTC Segment: February Average Daily Commissions
Feb. 2006 Feb. 2005 % Change
ICE OTC Average
Daily Commissions $421,205 $243,231 73.2%
Futures Business Segment
At ICE Futures, the company's futures business segment, average daily volume (ADV) in February 2006 increased 81.8% to 255,396 contracts compared to 140,493 contracts in February 2005. Total monthly futures volume also rose 81.8% to a record 5,107,913 contracts in February 2006, compared to monthly volume of 2,809,863 in February 2005. February was the second consecutive month of an ICE Futures volume record, exceeding by 7.4% the January 2006 monthly volume record of 4,754,400 contracts.
The month included a record volume day at ICE Futures on February 7, with 364,064 contracts changing hands, which is 21.5% higher than the previous record day achieved in January 2006, and the first time that ICE Futures volume exceeded 300,000 contracts in a single day. The record day included 45,962 contracts traded in the new ICE WTI Crude futures contract. Excluding the ICE WTI Crude futures contract volume on the record day, volume was 318,102 contracts, which exceeded the prior record by 6.2%. Volume subsequently exceeded the 300,000 level three more times in February.
At February 28, 2006, total open interest in ICE Futures contracts stood at 761,098 contracts, with open interest in the IPE Brent Crude futures contract at 399,238. This compares to total open interest of 565,734 contracts and IPE Brent Crude futures open interest of 351,673 at February 28, 2005.
Futures Segment: February Volume Statistics
Contract ADV ADV ADV Total Total Volume
Feb. Feb. % Volume Volume %
2006 2005 Change Feb. 2006 Feb. 2005 Change
IPE Brent Crude
futures 153,018 99,347 54.0% 3,060,351 1,986,936 54.0%
IPE Gas Oil
futures 60,944 38,443 58.5% 1,218,886 768,861 58.5%
ICE WTI Crude
futures 37,672** n/a n/a 753,441 n/a n/a
Other contracts* 3,762 2,703 39.2% 75,235 54,066 39.2%
Total ICE
Futures 255,396 140,493 81.8% 5,107,913 2,809,863 81.8%
* "Other contracts" include IPE Natural Gas Futures, ECX CFI Futures, IPE
Electricity futures and IPE Brent Options and IPE Gas Oil Options. The
ECX CFI Futures contract is the result of a cooperative relationship
between ICE Futures and the Chicago Climate Exchange, Inc. and its
subsidiary, the European Climate Exchange. ICE Futures shares in the
revenue derived from the ECX CFI Futures contract.
** The ICE WTI Crude futures contract began trading on February 3, 2006.
The ADV for ICE WTI Crude futures in the above table includes two
trading days (February 1 and 2) when the ICE WTI Crude futures contract
was not yet available for trading. The ICE WTI Crude futures contract
ADV since the launch date of February 3 is 41,858.
Additional February Highlights:
- IPE Gas Oil futures traded at ICE Futures achieved a new open interest
record on February 3 of 240,586 contracts.
- A fee waiver on execution will be in place for the ICE WTI Crude futures
contract from launch through March 31, 2006.
- ICE in February announced plans to introduce more than 50 additional
cleared contracts in its OTC markets during the first half of 2006, with
the first ten natural gas contracts available for trading beginning
today, March 3.
Additional historical futures volume and OTC commission data can be found at: https://www.theice.com/marketdata/recordsAndVolumes/volumes2006.jsp
About IntercontinentalExchange
IntercontinentalExchange® (NYSE: ICE - News) operates the leading electronic global futures and OTC marketplace for trading energy commodity contracts, including crude oil and refined products, natural gas, power and emissions. ICE conducts its markets for futures trading through its regulated subsidiary, ICE Futures, Europe's leading energy futures and options exchange. ICE also offers a range of risk management and trading support services, including cleared OTC contracts, electronic trade confirmations and energy market data. ICE's common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on November 16, 2005. ICE is based in Atlanta, Georgia with offices in Calgary, Chicago, Houston, London, New York and Singapore. For more information, please visit http://www.theice.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Statements in this press release regarding IntercontinentalExchange's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Reg. No. 333-123500), as amended, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: IntercontinentalExchange
rayrohn
19 years ago
Electronic exchanges post gains
By Greg Morcroft, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:33 AM ET Mar 1, 2006
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of electronic securities exchanges rose Wednesday, helped by gains in International Securities Exchange after the company said its daily volume rose about 40% in February.
Earlier, the International Securities Exchange Inc. (ISEISE) said that average daily trading volume for equity and index options contracts rose 37.9% last month, to 2.4 million contracts compared to 1.7 million during the same period in 2005.
Total equity and index options volume for February also increased by 37.9%, to 44.8 million contracts from 32.5 million contracts.
International Securities Exchange shares rose about 2% to $46.13.
Shares of Intercontinental Exchange (ICEICE) , TradeStation (TRADTRAD) , Knight Capital (NITENITE) and Van der Moolen (VDMVDM) all rose.
Shares of online trading firms also rose at mid-week, moving up despite a report from a respected sector analyst who foresees a slowdown in February's trading.
Trading volumes for so-called e-brokers "should be down in a range of 6.5% to 12.5% from January. Our channel checks showed that volumes dropped off from a stellar January in February, particularly near the end of the month. We are modeling sequential declines for TD Ameritrade (AMTDAMTD) (-7.5%), E-Trade (ETET) (-6.5%), Charles Schwab (SCHWSCHW) (-10.0%), OptionsXpress (OXPSOXPS) (-10.0%), and TradeStation (-0.00%)," said Sandler O'Neill's Rich Repetto.
Also Wednesday, Chicago Mercantile Holdings Inc. (CMECME) got a lift as average daily volume for February rose 26% to 4.7 million contracts. Open interest set a record for the month, coming in above 40 million positions. Total options reached 1.2 million contracts per day in February, an increase of 44% year-over-year.
In the broader financial sector, the Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index ($XBD$XBD) , the Philadelphia Bank Sector Index ($BKX$BKX) and the S&P Insurance Index (IUXIUX) all were in the rise.
Greg Morcroft is New York news editor of MarketWatch.
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