Ira Epstein & Company
Accounts Section
Commodity Fone Quick Reference Guide
Ira Epstein & Company
Customer Service Department for Commodity-Fone
(800) 284-1090
8:00 A.M. through 4:00 P.M. (M-Fri)
Main Menu Selections
[1] Price Quotes
[2] Account Information
[3] Transfer to Trade Desk
[4] Hotlines
[5] Margin Department
[6] Charting Software & BBS
[7] Modify Personal Settings
[8] Customer Service
[9] Price Alert
[0] Quit
Keep these account information variables on hand for fast access:
Your Trade Desk:_________________
Your Account #__________________
Your Access Code #______________
Commodity-Fone 1-800-395-2000
Information and Instructions
COMMODITY-FONE is a network of information services. The system is easy to use. All you need is a TouchtoneTM telephone. Take a moment to read through these instructions. They will lead you to the exciting features available through COMMODITY-FONE.
National # 1-800-395-2000
Local # 312-207-3500
(312, 630, 708, 773 & 847 area codes)
Customer Service Emergency Number:
1-800-284-1090
HOW TO ACCESS COMMODITY-FONE
When COMMODITY-FONE answers, you will hear a short message asking you to enter the last 5 digits of your Account Number along with your assigned 4 digit Access Code. Enter them as prompted.
MAIN MENU SELECTIONS:
Section (1)... PRICE QUOTES
When you select (1) from the Main Menu, you will be instructed to make a selection from the following options:
Press (1) Hear your Personal Quote File
Press (2) Enter Individual Quote Codes
Press (3) Modify your Personal Quote File
Press (4) To Reset your Personal Quote File
Press (5) For Quotes on your Open Positions
Press (6) For a fax of your Personal Quote File
Press (9) Return to Main Menu
Indicate your choice by pressing the number on your phone that corresponds to your selection. The following are explanations of your Price Quote options:
TO HEAR YOUR PERSONAL QUOTE FILE - Press (1) on your keypad to hear all of the quotes contained in your personal quote file (see (3) for instructions on creating your personal quote file). At the conclusion of your quote file you will be directed back to the Main Menu.
ENTER INDIVIDUAL QUOTE CODES - Press (2), then enter a code to hear an individual quote. Please refer to the Futures Code Table in this booklet for the correct codes. You will be allowed to enter as many quotes as you need according to your allocated personal time. These quotes are not saved in your personal quote file.
SETTING UP AND MODIFYING YOUR PERSONAL QUOTE FILE - Pressing (3) allows you to create your own personal quote file. Once you have set it up, you are able to make changes (add or delete quotes) by selecting this same option.**
TO RESET YOUR PERSONAL QUOTE FILE - Pressing (4) allows you to reset your personal quote file for the next day. This feature allows you to hear quotes on closing prices after the market has closed and repeats them until the markets reopen.
FOR QUOTES ON YOUR OPEN POSITIONS - Press (5) to hear quote on the positions you have open. (If you don't hear an open position that you know you have please contact your trade desk or the margin department immediately.
FOR A FAX OF YOUR PERSONAL QUOTE FILE - Press (6) to request a fax of your personal quote file. You must have your fax number entered under the Main Menu Selection (7). Modify your personal settings FIRST!
TO CREATE OR MODIFY YOUR QUOTE FILE, ENTER:
TO ADD QUOTES - After entering the correct quote code, Commodity-Fone will repeat the quote and ask "Is this correct?". Press (9) for YES or press (6) for NO. When completely finished with your modification, press the (*) key to end this function and return to the main menu.
TO DELETE QUOTES - This selection offers 3 options. After selecting this feature, the next options are:
Delete by Quote Code- Enter the quote code you wish to delete.
Delete by Prompting- You will hear your entire quote file and be prompted after hearing each one as to whether you want to delete this particular quote or not. (Press 9 for YES or 6 for NO).
Delete entire quote file - You may clear your personal quote file by pressing (3)
*You may add or delete as many Futures and Options on Futures Quotes as you like. To END this function or bypass the remaining quotes press (*) on your keypad. This will return you to the Main Menu.
ENTERING A FUTURES QUOTE CODE
The following A - D instructions are to be followed when accessing Quote Codes
NOTE: To access a quote, you MUST have and enter the proper 5 digit code as explained below.
- Enter the 2 digit Futures Symbol code, as listed in the FUTURES CODE TABLE.(The Futures Code Table is located at the end of these instructions)
- Next, enter the 1 digit month code for your particular contract. You may receive quotes on contracts as far our as 1 calendar year.
Enter (1) for first month trading
Enter (2) for second month trading
Enter (3) for third month trading, etc......
- Enter the format code as follows:
For Automatic Month Rollover (used for first month quotes) choose one of the following:
(0) open, high, low, last, net change
(1) high, low, last
(2) last, net change
(3) last trade
(4) net change
For Constant Month Selection (used for quotes up to one calendar year forward) choose one of the following:
(5) open, high, low, last, net change
(6) high, low, last
(7) last, net change
(8) last trade
(9) net change
-
Be sure to "Press" the (*) on your telephone keypad to communicate to Commodity-Fone that you have finished entering your quote code.
EXAMPLE: For coding T-Bonds:
Press 8 7 1 0 *
87 = Code for T-Bonds
1 = Code for first month trading
0 = open, high, low, last & net change
* = end
CONSTANT OR AUTOMATIC MONTH ROLLOVER
The distinction between automatic rollover and constant month selection is as follows:
By selecting the automatic rollover feature, when the first trading month in the contract you select expires, your month selection will automatically change to the following contract month.
By selecting the constant month feature, your contract month selection will not change even if the first trading month in that contract has expired.
EXAMPLE: Assume it is now June. You are trading December Silver. If you selected automatic rollover, when the current contract month that is actively trading expires, in this case the July Contract, your quote file would automatically change to March Silver (the next active Contract Month which follows December). If you select a constant month, your quote would remain December, even though the July contract has expired.
For additional help in setting up your personal quote file or in selecting the correct quote codes, contact our Customer Service Department (select 8 in the Main Menu Selections). Or call 1-800-284-1090
ENTERING AN OPTIONS QUOTE CODE
The quote code for a futures option is simply an extension of the futures quote code. It consists of the 2 digit futures code, the 1 digit month code, the 1 digit format code, plus the following information:
CALL/PUT CODE: The call/put code is 1 digit. It is either [C] Call (the number 2) or [P] Put (the number 7).
STRIKE PRICE: The various strike prices can be found in the Wall StreetJournal or Investors Daily under the listings: "Futures Options".
Example: Let's assume that it is now September. You are trading the May - Sugar 950 Calls. Your quote code would be 74302950 as detailed below:
74 = 2 digit futures code for sugar, SG or 74
3 = 3rd trading month; 1 or 1st month, 2 for 2nd month, etc.
0 = open, high low, last, net change
2 = Call
950 = 3 digit strike price
* = End
PLEASE see Futures and Options Quote Table at the end of this document for the number of digits in each futures option strike price.
Section (2).. ACCOUNT INFORMATION
When you select (2) Account Information from the Main Menu, Commodity-Fone responds "Account Information" for account number <your account number> as of <date>. You will then be asked to make a selection from the following options:
Press (1) For your open positions
Press (2) For your current margin requirement
Press (3) For your margin excess
Press (4) For your net liquidation value
Press (5) For your open trade equity
Press (6) For your total equity
Press (7) For a fax of your account information
Press (8) To return to the Main Menu
**If any of the information you hear sounds incorrect, it is your responsibility to notify the Margin Department immediately by pressing (*) to cancel this function and pressing (5) when at the Main Menu to transfer to the Margin Department. When you contact our Margin Department Staff, state what it was you heard that you believe was wrong.
Section (3).. TRANSFER TO TRADE DESK
When you select (3) to Transfer to Trade Desk from the Main Menu, Commodity-Fone is programmed to reply, "Please hold on the line, your call is being transferred." You will then be transferred to your assigned trade desk.
Please Note: At times when our telephone providers incoming lines to us go down, we have special backup telephone numbers for you to use. These phone numbers will "ONLY" be answered in emergency situations, so be sure to only use the EMERGENCY number if you discover Commodity-Fone is not working!
Section (4).. HOTLINES
When the (4) Hotline Feature is selected from the Main Menu, a selection of available hotlines will be offered. * Please note that you will only be able to listen to each hotline one time per issuance. * When you have made a selection you will hear the following message:
"You may access the hotline by agreeing to a charge to your trading account the fee of $1.50 per minute. Do you agree? Press (9) for YES or (6) for NO."
- If you press YES, your account will be charged $1.50 per minute (rounded to the nearest minute) for each hotline accessed.
- If you press NO, you will be returned to your previous menu selection.
If you are calling from the Chicago area (312, 708, 773 or 847 area codes) access to hotlines on Commodity-Fone can be reached by dialing 312-207-3500. If dialing from outside the Chicago area codes, you can access the hotline service by dialing 1-800-395-2000.
EXAMPLE: If you wish to listen to Hotline #1, Commodity-Fone will ask you to press 01. If you just press 1, Commodity-Fone won't recognize the number.
Be sure to put a "0" in front of the hotline you wish to listen to.
Section (5) MARGIN DEPARTMENT
If you have questions for the Margin Department, select (5) from the Main Menu. You will hear "Please hold the line, your call is being transferred." The margin Department will answer questions concerning and performs tasks having to do with:
- Margins
- Questions about the Information you furnished to Open your Account
- Check requests
- Wire requests
- Information on deposits (checks and wires received)
- T-Bill purchases
- Questions about Daily or Monthly Statements
- Address and Phone Number changes
- E-Mail Address Changes
- Delivery procedures
- Updated Margins
- Questions on Commissions being Charged
- Questions on Exchange and NFA Fees
- 1099 Requests
- Questions about fills
- Time and sales request
Section..(6) CHARTING SOFTWARE
Questions concerning OST-IraCharts, our charting software, can be answered by you selecting (6) Charting Software from the Main Menu.
The Charting Software Department is available to answer questions about the OST-IraCharts Software products offered through Ira Epstein & Company between 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CST Monday through Friday (1-800-284-6380).
Our technical support staff can answer questions on:
- Installation and use of our charting software products
- Setup a private Internet Chatroom Meeting where they will teach you the full workings of OST-IraCharts
Section (7).. MODIFYING YOUR PERSONAL SETTINGS
This feature allows you to enter your phone number and/or fax number into the Commodity-Fone. With this function, you can instruct Commodity-Fone to either call or fax you with your fill.
Press (1) To enter or change your phone number.
Press (2) To enter or change your fax number.
Press (3) To change your access code.
Press (4) To record your name.
Press (5) To be called automatically with filled orders by Commodity-Fone.
Press (6) To generate a fax of your fill and price alerts.
Press (7) To review your personal Commodity-Fone settings.
Press (8) To return to the Main Menu.
Section (8).. CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT
Should you encounter any problem with Commodity-Fone, or find you are are in need of more assistance, pressing (8) will transfer your call to a menu selection of "Frequently Asked Questions". You will hear:
Press (1) For help on entering a Futures code.
Press (2) For help on entering an Option on Futures code.
Press (3) For help entering an Option Strike Price.
Press (4) For help with Month codes.
Press (5) For help with format codes.
Press (6) Personal Quote File is not playing the quotes you have entered.
Press (7) If you want to add or delete quotes from your Personal Quote File.
Press (8) To speak to a Customer Service Representative.
Press (9) To return to the Main Menu.
Our Customer Service Department can answer most questions in reference to Hotline services and information about many other special offerings provided through Ira Epstein & Company.
To serve you better...
Customer Service needs to know when and what problems you may be experiencing with Commodity-Fone... no matter how small
- Quotes
- Menu repetition
- Hotlines
- Time allotments
- Problems with transferring to trade desk or margin department
PLEASE NOTE: Questions referencing: Margin requirements, account status (equity and positions), check requests or wiring instructions should be referred to your Trade Desk or our Margin Department, NOT to Customer Service.
CALL BACK FUNCTION
When you call in to place an order on Commodity-Fone, we will enter the following information along with your order into our order entry computer.
Your name
Your account number
Type of order you wish to perform
Phone number to call you back on
This is how the Call Back Function operates:
* When you call in to place a trade order, our Trade Desk manually enters it. Placing orders yourself over the Internet doesn't change the functionality of the order, since in practically all cases your order is electronically transmitted to the trading floor.
* When that order is executed, either electronically or manually, depending the market your are tracking, it is entered into the trading floor's computers and transmitted back to our office.
* The order is then electronically placed in Commodity-Fone which instantly looks up the "Call Back" information you've already entered and dials you back to report a fill via our "Call Back Function".
* Should you not be available to take our call, our computer will create a front-end message on our Commodity-Fone system so that when you call us, it will advise you of your fill and indicate that we attempted to reach you. (Please note: Commodity-Fone is not programmed to leave phone messages on answering machines)
Commodity-Fone is programmed to call you at the number that you enter into it, until one of two things happens:
- Commodity-Fone reaches you and you successfully hear your fill OR
- You call into Commodity-Fone and successfully hear your fill.
NOTE: After you have heard your fill, you must confirm by pressing (6). This will advise Commodity-Fone that it no longer needs to call you back concerning this fill and will delete the notification procedure for the fill in question.
If you hang up without pressing (6) after you have heard your fill, the system will continue to call you until you instruct it otherwise. You must press (6) after you hear the fill to stop this function from calling you back!
FUTURES AND OPTIONS QUOTE CODE TABLE
| Alphanumeric Codes | Numeric Codes | # of Digits in Option Strike Price | |
| GRAINS & OILSEED | |||
| Corn | C0 | 20 | 3 |
| Oats | O0 | 60 | - |
| Soybeans | S0 | 70 | 3 |
| Chicago Wheat | W0 | 90 | 3 |
| Kansas City Wheat | SW | 79 | 3 |
| Minneapolis Wheat | MW | 69 | - |
| Rough Rice | RR | 11 | - |
| Soybean Meal | SM | 76 | 3 |
| Soybean Oil | BO | 26 | 2 |
| MEATS | |||
| Live Cattle | LC | 52 | 2 |
| Live Hogs | LH | 54 | 2 |
| Pork Bellies | PB | 72 | 2 |
| Feeder Cattle | FC | 32 | 2 |
| METALS | |||
| COMEX Gold | GC | 42 | 3 |
| Kilo Gold | GK | 45 | - |
| COMEX Silver 5000 oz | SV | 78 | 3-4 |
| CBT 1000 oz Silver | LS | 57 | 3 |
| Copper | CW | 29 | 4-5 |
| Platinum | PL | 75 | - |
| Palladium | P1 | 71 | - |
| Aluminum | L1 | 51 | - |
| ENERGY | |||
| Crude Oil | CL | 25 | 4 |
| Unleaded Gasoline | UG | 84 | 4 |
| Heating Oil | HO | 46 | 2 |
| Liquid Propane | LL | 55 | - |
| Natural Gas | NG | 64 | - |
| Lumber | LM | 56 | 3 |
| Diammonium Phosphate | TE | 83 | - |
| Anhydrous Ammonium | ON | 66 | - |
| TROPICALS | |||
| Coffee | TL | 85 | 4-5 |
| Cocoa | C1 | 21 | 4 |
| World Sugar #11 | SG | 74 | 3-4 |
| Domestic Sugar #14 | DS | 37 | - |
| Cotton | CT | 28 | 4 |
| Orange Juice | OJ | 65 | 4-5 |
| CURRENCIES | |||
| Australian Dollar | D1 | 31 | - |
| British Pound | BP | 27 | 4-5 |
| Canadian Dollar | CD | 23 | 4 |
| Euroyen | EY | 49 | - |
| Euro Currency | EC | 40 | 4-5 |
| Swiss Franc | SF | 73 | 4 |
| US Dollar Index | DX | 39 | 2 |
| Japanese Yen | JY | 59 | 4 |
| INTEREST RATES | |||
| US T-Bonds (CBOT) | US | 87 | 2-3 |
| T-Notes | TY | 89 | 2-3 |
| 5-Yr Notes (CBOT) | FV | 38 | - |
| 2-Yr Notes (CBOT) | TN | 86 | 2-3 |
| Muni Bond Index | MB | 62 | - |
| Eurodollars | ED | 33 | 4 |
| T-Bills | TB | 82 | 4 |
| LIBOR 1 Month | 1M | 16 | - |
| 30 Day Int. Rate | 30 | 30 | 2-3 |
| INDICES | |||
| CRB Index | C1 | 24 | - |
| Dow Jones Futures | DJ | 35 | - |
| Eurotop 100 Index | E1 | 34 | - |
| Goldman Sachs Com Index | G1 | 44 | - |
| Major Market Index | BC | 22 | - |
| Mini S&P 500 Index | LO | 50 | - |
| Mini Value Line | MV | 68 | - |
| NASDAQ 100 Index | 61 | 61 | - |
| Nikkei Dow Index (CME) | ND | 63 | 3 |
| NYSE Composite | YX | 99 | 2-3 |
| Russell 2000 Index | LE | 53 | - |
| S&P MidCap 400 | MP | 67 | - |
| S&P 500 Index | SP | 77 | 3 |
| Value Line Index | KV | 58 | - |
| Wilshire Index | W1 | 94 | - |
| INDICATORS | |||
| Dow Jones Ind. Avg. | DJ0 | 3502 | - |
| NYSE Volume | V10 | 18101 | - |
| Tick - NYSE | TK0 | 48504 | - |
| Trin - NYSE | TN0 | 48604 | - |
| Issues | IS0 | 14701 | - |
| CASH MARKETS | |||
| Cash US Dollar Index | DX00 | 3900 | - |
| Cash Muni Bond Index | MB00 | 6200 | - |
| Major Mkt Index Cash | BC00 | 2200 | - |
| S&P 500 Cash | SP00 | 7700 | - |
| NYSE Cash | YX00 | 9900 | - |
| Value Line Cash | KV00 | 5800 | - |
| CRB Cash | C100 | 2400 | - |
| TOPIX Cash | TD00 | 8300 | - |
| Nikkei Dow Index Cash | ND00 | 6300 | - |
IF YOU WISH TO RECEIVE QUOTES ON THE DAY SESSION ONLY, JUST ENTER 03 BEFORE THE CODE.
For example press:0 3 7 6 1 3 *
03 = Day Session
76 = Soybean Meal
1 = First trading month
3 = last trade
* = exit
HELPFUL HINTS* Upon calling Commodity-Fone and upon its answering, you may immediately punch in your account number and access code. You do not have to listen to the prompts. Furthermore, throughout Commodity-Fone, you may bypass the prompts and move to your desired selection.
* You may bypass the system message by pressing (*) at any time. You will however, be responsible for the information on that message.
* When listening to your personal quote file, you may fast forward to the next quote by pressing (1) while your quote file is playing.
* You may substitute the (#) key for the (*) key.
* Press (*) at any time to cancel a function and return to the main menu.
* Your personal allocated time on Commodity-Fone only pertains to the setting up and listening to QUOTES. Time is not computed by Commodity-Fone for listening to the system messages or transferring to our different departments.
* If you hang up without pressing (6) after you have heard your fill, the system will continue to call you until you instruct it otherwise. You must press (6) after you hear the fill to stop this function from calling you back.
Send us e-mail with any questions or comments you may have, or call one of our customer representatives at 1-800-284-5531.
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