The CTRM Blog

CommodityPoint is now the owner of the Energy Hedge Fund Center, a web portal initially created by Peter C. Fusaro and myself in 2004 (time flies!!) on the basis of a discussion we had about hedge funds in a bar in Las Vegas. I frankly didn’t know what a hedge fund was at the time but we had both noticed these mysterious and secretive entities had started to trade energy commodities. The first version of the EHFC site was built by me that weekend using a WYSIWG web development tool…..

CommodityPoint has launched a new research project, the 2011 CTRM Vendor Perception Survey. In this latest version of our biennial review of the market’s perceptions of trading and risk management applications and their vendors, we’re expanding our coverage beyond energy and are looking at all commodity trading applications.

So, we would really appreciate hearing your thoughts about, and experiences with, the various products and vendors that support energy and commodity trading activities around the globe.  The short electronic survey won’t take you long to complete and the final report will be freely available for you to check how your views match up with others.

CommodityPoint holds and annual strategy meeting at which we determine, among other things, the forward research program and the like. This years meeting is being held at our Brno offices. Here are a few photos of the team….

The CommodityPoint Team

In the above photo – Mark Tredway, Michael Overton, Andrew Colby and Patrick Reames.

Another Shot of the CommodityPoint Team

In the above photo – Patrick Reames, Gary Vasey, Mark Tredway and Michael Overton.

Gary M. Vasey, Ph.D.: How did Woodlands Solutions, LLC get started and what where your objectives in setting up the company?

Mike Muse: We started Woodlands Solutions because we kept hearing from energy companies that they weren’t able to find an ETRM solution that fit both their requirements and their budget leading many of them to continue on with their internal solutions, often not much more than a collection of spreadsheets.

A friend of the blog sent me a link to a Moody’s press release covering the agency’s ratings of OpenLink Financial’s credit status in light of their acquisition by Hellman & Friedman.  Peppered throughout the discussion are references to OLF’s acquisition of Solarc with the note that the deal is expected to close by the end of the year.  I’ve got to say, I’m a bit surprised by this one.  While I had heard rumors that Solarc, along with several other vendors in this space has been for sale, I really didn’t expect that OLF would be the acquiring party.