The London Metal Exchange or LME is the futures exchange with the world's largest market in options and futures contracts on base and other metals. As the LME offers contracts with daily expiry dates up to three months from trade date, along with longer dated contracts, it also allows for cash trading. It offers hedging, worldwide reference pricing and storage for physical delivery of trades. A futures exchange, is a corporation or organization which provides a marketplace in which to trade derivatives such as futures contracts and options. ... In finance, an option is a contract whereby one party (the holder or buyer) has the right but not the obligation to exercise a feature of the contract (the option) on or before a future date (the exercise date or expiry). ... In finance, a futures contract is a standardized contract, traded on a futures exchange, to buy or sell a certain underlying instrument at a certain date in the future, at a specified price. ... In chemistry, the term base metal is used informally to refer to a metal that oxidizes or corrodes relatively easily, and react variably with dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl) to form hydrogen. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Hedge (finance). ...

It is located at 56 Leadenhall Street, London. Leadenhall Street is a principal street of the City of London. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

History

The London Metal Market and Exchange Company was founded in 1877 but the market traces its origins back to 1571 and the opening of the Royal Exchange. At first only copper was traded, lead and zinc were soon added but only gained official trading status in 1920. The exchange was closed over WW II and did not re-open until 1952. Other metals traded extended to include aluminium (1978), nickel (1979) and aluminium alloy (1992). Base metals are traded through the LME since 2000. The total value of the trade is around $8,500 billion annually. 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Events January 11 - Austrian nobility is granted Freedom of religion. ... The term Royal Exchange can refer to: The Royal Exchange in London The Royal Exchange in Manchester The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic pinkish red Atomic mass 63. ... For PB or pb as an abbreviation, see PB. General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish gray Atomic mass 207. ... General Name, Symbol, Number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Atomic mass 65. ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000,000 Civilian dead: 4,000,000 Total dead 12,000,000 World War II (abbreviated WWII), or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... General Name, Symbol, Number aluminium, Al, 13 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 13, 3, p Appearance silvery Atomic mass 26. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... General Name, Symbol, Number nickel, Ni, 28 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 4, d Appearance lustrous, metallic and silvery with a gold tinge Atomic mass 58. ... For the song by The Smashing Pumpkins, see 1979 (song). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

Markets

There is constant inter-office trading through the London Clearing House but some trading is still done by open outcry in the Ring. There is a morning and an afternoon trade, where each of the eight metal contracts are traded in two blocks with a five minute session for each contract (the sessions last from 11.40 until 13.15 and from 15.10 until 16.35, each session includes a ten minute break). The second trading block in the morning is key to setting the Daily Official Exchange rates. After the official trades there is fifteen minutes of "kerb" trading. Trades are in futures, options and TAPOs (traded average price contracts, a form of Asian option). The style or family of a financial option is a general term denoting the class into which the option falls, usually defined by the manner in which the option may be exercised. ...

There are eleven companies who have exclusive rights to trade in the Ring and around 100 companies involved in the LME in total.

Contrary to popular belief, the precious metals, gold and silver are not traded on the London Metal Exchange, but on the over-the-counter market usually referred to as the London bullion market, by the members of the London Bullion Market Association. Also, platinum and palladium are traded on the London Platinum and Palladium Market.. General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... General Name, Symbol, Number silver, Ag, 47 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 5, d Appearance lustrous white metal Atomic mass 107. ... Over-the-counter (OTC) trading is to trade financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, or derivatives directly between two parties. ... The London bullion market, often referred to as London gold market is entirely different from, but often confused with the London Metal Exchange. ... General Name, Symbol, Number platinum, Pt, 78 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 6, d Appearance grayish white Atomic mass 195. ... General Name, Symbol, Number palladium, Pd, 46 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 5, d Appearance silvery white metallic Atomic mass 106. ...

See also

• Gold as an investment
• List of futures exchanges

This article discusses buying gold as an investment. ... // Montreal Exchange Winnipeg Commodity Exchange Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Chicago Butter and Egg Board, precursor to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Chicago Climate Exchange Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Commodity Exchange (COMEX), now a division of NYMEX Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) International Monetary Market (IMM), part...

External links

• London Metal Exchange