NYMEX is a hot property right now

How hot are derivatives exchanges? Check out the New York Mercantile Exchange, where a seat just sold for $5.8 million, another record. Clearly, the feeling is that the upcoming public offering will do for NYMEX seat holders what the New York Stock Exchange's offering did for its seat owners. The buyer was not disclosed. The issue is how long the NYMEX will last before it is engaged in another deal. To survive these days, you need a certain scale and it just might prove to be an attractive partner to another exchange. Just look at the Chicago options exchanges merger. Odd bedfellows will be made. Meanwhile, rising volume has lead to strong profits.

For more on this:
- Here's an update from the AP
- The CBOT just set another volume record. Brief