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bivonic
02-13-2003, 11:40 AM
LONDON


Published February 11, 2003

Saddam futures allow bets on his removal
DAN Stevens has US$1,400 riding on Saddam Hussein\'s removal as president of Iraq.

TradeSports Exchange Ltd, based in Dublin, offers futures on the Iraqi leader to investors looking for alternative investments. The contracts settle on the last day of each of the next four months, and pay out if Mr Saddam is ousted by then.

\'I enjoy trading multiple things,\' said Mr Stevens, who buys and sells stocks for a living in Chicago. \'I expect a war by March. By the end of June, Saddam will be out of power.\'

Bettors buy Saddam futures as they fluctuate in value from zero to US$10. The contracts pay the full amount \'if for any reason or under any circumstance\' Mr Saddam \'is not internationally recognised\' as the leader of Iraq, under TradeSports rules.



Mr Stevens bought 200 June contracts at US$7 apiece. If Mr Saddam is ousted by the end of that month, the contracts pay the balance - a total of US$600. If Mr Saddam remains in power, Mr Stevens will lose the US$1,400 he paid to buy the contracts.

March futures are trading at US$4.30, April contracts are at US$7.40, those for May are at US$8.20 and June futures are at US$8.40, according to TradeSports chief executive John Delaney. That means traders see a 43 per cent chance Mr Saddam will not be in power by the end of March and an 84 per cent chance he\'ll be gone by June 30.

TradeSports settles the contracts based on information from the United Nations or US government and checks that against three independent media sources. - Bloomberg


<a target=\"_blank\" href=http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4567,72285,00.html>LINK</a>


LOL I\'ll take March.