The first “Introduction to Loco London” course offered by  London Bullion Market Association (“LBMA”) ran last week and feedback has been tremendous.

The attendees were an almost perfect cross-section of the bullion market.  Producers, refiners, central banks, bullion banks, vault operators, LPMCL members, physical traders, mints, investors and researchers were all represented.  Several contributed their own professional experience which added an extra dimension to the discussions.

“The level of engagement was spot on, not too much, not too little. Very well done and thank you for the unique experience.” ICBC Standard

“The trainer spoke clearly and it was easy for a non-native English speaker to understand” Paloma Precious

Detailed comments from this first group have been acted upon already and the next course should be even closer to that elusive perfect 10.

Check out Upcoming Courses for links to find out more and to reserve your place.  Note that September has almost sold out already, and dates for New York and London timezones are both offered in November.

This week’s London Metal Exchange / Euromoney Learning introductory courses were nominally “in” London, but attendees were in Dubai, New Jersey, Johannesburg, Zug, Dublin and a dining room in Essex, as well as in London.  The occasional cute unregistered attendee Zoom-bombed their parents with a shy look at the screen and a timid wave before running away.  Who knew that home schooling could include LME derivatives?

“This course helped me immensely” Afrimet Resources

The next virtual courses are “in” Dubai (15-17 September) and “in” London (20-22 October, LME Week).  The next in-classroom course is scheduled for London, 23-25 November, subject to government and health and safety guidelines.  Check out Upcoming Courses for a full schedule and links to secure your place.

A series of training courses scheduled for Amsterdam were an early casualty of COVID-19. With less than 24 hours to go before the flight, measures to limit the virus spread meant the courses could not proceed.  The courses were reconfigured for virtual delivery and went ahead over the last fortnight. 

 

 

Since the beginning of the year, the ominous cloud that is COVID-19 has expanded to cover the entire globe.  They say every cloud has a silver lining, and COVID-19 has proved to have a silver and golden lining.

The London Bullion Market Association (“LBMA”) engaged us to design and deliver an in-classroom training course on the basics of the loco London precious metals market for launch towards the end of 2020.  Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the course has been reconfigured for virtual delivery with course dates brought forward to July and September.  The LBMA volunteered its own staff for a test run last week, and feedback was tremendous.

Check out Upcoming Courses for links to find out more and to reserve your place.

Today’s seventh webinar in the  LME–Euromoney series took a first look at options. It explained basic option vocabulary and clarified what it means for an option to be in-, at- or out-of-the-money.  There was an overview of the option declaration procedures for both LME traded options and LME TAPOs.

 

 

 

Last week’s London Metal Exchange / Euromoney Learning introductory courses were nominally “in” New York, but in reality, the trainer was in Ireland, and participants were in India, Bulgaria, the UK, Peru, Chile and Mexico.  While the experience is different to being in-classroom, it appears to be suiting some attendees very well.

The next course is “in” London on 14-16 July.  Check out Upcoming Courses for a full schedule and links to secure your place.

Last week’s London Metal Exchange / Euromoney course proved the concept: training can be delivered effectively over virtual platforms.  COVID-19 forced a new normal on us. We have risen to the challenge and adapted.  The courses featured interactive learning and exercises in small group sessions to foster the group dynamic.  The overall feel was close to an in-person in-classroom experience, and most importantly, it was a significant improvement on a passive webinar.

The June and July courses will service the US and European timezones respectively.  Check out Upcoming Courses for a full schedule and links to secure your place.

This week’s sixth webinar in the series of LME–Euromoney seminars delved into more detailed uses of LME carry trades, looking at hedging less liquid prompt dates and locking in the shape of the forward curve.  At this difficult time, it was heartening to see so many participating in the live webinar, and engaging with the audience polls and Q&A.  It is proof that the world adapts and carries on.

The next webinar is scheduled for 17^th June and will start to look at the types of options available on the LME.  All webinars can be accessed here.

The new venue for the LME introductory training courses this week proved popular.  Located right beside Moorgate station and just a short walk from the LME, attendees appreciated the convenience particularly when it came to leaving for flights at the end of the course.

The course covers the inner workings of the LME and essential knowledge for using LME futures and options.  Each course develops its own particular flavour as participants are encouraged to share their own experiences.  Gaining a better understanding of LME terminology was a goal for many attendees, and several were hear reciting “Yesterday’s Cash is today’s Tom” after the section on rolling prompt dates.

The next courses will be Dubai (10-12 March), London (28-30 April) and New York (9-11 June).  Check out Upcoming Courses for a full schedule and links to secure your place.

This week’s fifth webinar in the series of LME–Euromoney seminars discussed LME carry trades.  The difference between borrowing and lending, and the impact of the forward curve on the profit and loss of carry trades were explained.  An example of applying carries to adjust the dates on a risk position was worked through in detail.

The webinar content and the “Test Yourself” questions were the most challenging in the series so far.  Just 22% correctly answered the first question.  However, there was an impressive improvement to 71% correctly answering the second question after working through the first exercise.  Why not listen to the recording to see how you fare?  All webinars can be accessed here.

The next webinar is scheduled for 31^st March and will discuss more applications of LME carries.