CommodityPoint Launches New OnLine Store

Houston, Texas and Brno, Czech Republic—April 28th, 2009—CommodityPoint, A Division of UtiliPoint International, Inc. focused on commodity markets and trading and risk management technologies, has launched an online store as a part of the overall CommodityPoint web presence. The new online store provides a central location to access CommodityPoint thought leadership in the form of free white papers as well as to purchase research reports and books.

“The CommodityPoint Store provides a central and convenient location for our clients to access our research and thought leadership materials quickly and easily,“ said Dr. Gary M. Vasey, General Manager, Europe.

The CommodityPoint Store is an integral part of CommodityPont’s web presence that includes;

• The CommodityPoint website (http://www.commodity-point.com),
• The ETRM Community (http://www.etrmcommunity.com),
• UtiliPoint Europe Blog (http://www.utilipointeuropeblog.com) and
• The online directory of trading & risk management software (http://www.trmdirectory.com).

The CommodityPoint online store can be accessed at http://www.commoditypointstore.com.

About CommodityPoint
CommodityPoint is a division of leading energy and utilities analyst and consulting firm, UtiliPoint International, Inc. CommodityPoint provides Commodity Trading & Risk Management (CTRM) research, analysis and consulting services. Our services bring insight into business issues, trends, processes and technology, to energy companies, utilities, banks, brokers, funds, investors and vendors, enhancing their competitive position and supporting critical business decisions. CommodityPoint has been formed to bring focus and clarity to the broad array of issues surrounding the wholesale trading of commodities. Our team provides expert analysis of market trends and, in particular, the technologies and applications supporting those that participate in regional or global commodity markets. Our principal analysts, Dr. Gary Vasey and Patrick Reames, bring years of practical experience to their roles. With offices in Europe and the US, and backed by an experienced research team, our organization provides an unparalleled view of the marketplace.

About UtiliPoint® International, Inc.
UtiliPoint is a leader in providing analysis and consulting services to the energy and utility industry. Our 76-year history and over 500 clients worldwide have led us to currently operate as an energy and utility consulting and issues analysis firm. Our staff is comprised of leading utility and energy experts with diverse backgrounds in utility generation, transmission & distribution, retail markets, mergers and acquisitions, new technologies, venture capital, information technology, outsourcing, renewable energy, regulatory affairs, and international issues.

Risk Management Tops Trading Firm's Critical Business Issues in Less Liquid Energy Commodity Markets

Albuquerque, New Mexico—February 4th, 2009— CommodityPoint, a division of UtiliPoint® International, Inc., has released a new report titled “Changes in Commodity Markets – Impacts on Traders and Software" based on a survey of a variety of energy commodity market participants. While commodity traders face a barrage of issues as a result of the ongoing financial and credit crisis, the study indicates that risk management is the most critical business issue facing those market participants.
The study, based on a global survey of 65 firms trading commodities (and follow-up interviews with many of the survey respondents and other market participants), shows that tighter credit, decreasing market liquidity and related developments are being felt by, and are creating serious issues for, increasingly cautious trading firms. The survey quite clearly indicates that many traders are finding current conditions difficult, to the point of reducing their exposures, both volumetrically and financially, and in some instances, exiting the markets altogether.

The results also indicate a growing divergence between the physical and financial players in the markets. In the period of rapidly escalating prices prior to July of 2008, financial traders were entering the markets in large numbers, bringing with them new strategies and trading styles, and catalyzing growth not only in traded volumes, but also in the introduction of new products and instruments. The survey respondents indicated that for many of the physical players, while these new market developments provided some benefit, such as access to new trading partners and improved liquidity, there has also been some detrimental impacts, the most cited of which is the lack of clarity around price formation.

“A key finding in this study is related to the impact that financial commodity traders may be having on price formation," said Dr. Gary M. Vasey. “Understanding factors behind price formation was cited as a key concern in the study which appears to indicate that financial traders trading styles, strategies and overall portfolio make-up can have a definite impact on price formation.“

"Additionally, the study indicates that while uncertainty surrounding price formation is a concern for all traders, physical traders, and particularly those that have naturally long or short positions such as producers or industrial scale consumers, are faced with unique concerns." said Patrick Reames. "These companies are having a very difficult time developing and executing hedging strategies in light of the extreme levels of uncertainty around future prices."

The new report, “Changes in Commodity Markets – Impacts on Traders and Software" examines a broad array of issues faced by the industry and provides particular focus on those issues considered critical to market participants, both in terms of business strategy and the implications for the systems and software deployed to support those businesses. The report, sponsored by Triple Point Technology and supported by SunGard Energy Solutions, HyperRig, Lacima Group, Accenture and SolArc is available for purchase at UtiliPoint’s website at http://www.utilipoint.com/rci/details.asp?ProductID=1176

About CommodityPoint
CommodityPoint is a division of leading energy and utilities analyst and consulting firm, UtiliPoint International, Inc. CommodityPoint provides Commodity Trading & Risk Management (CTRM) research, analysis and consulting services. Our services bring insight into business issues, trends, processes and technology, to energy companies, utilities, banks, brokers, funds, investors and vendors, enhancing their competitive position and supporting critical business decisions. CommodityPoint has been formed to bring focus and clarity to the broad array of issues surrounding the wholesale trading of commodities. Our team provides expert analysis of market trends and, in particular, the technologies and applications supporting those that participate in regional or global commodity markets. Our principal analysts, Dr. Gary Vasey and Patrick Reames, bring years of practical experience to their roles. With offices in Europe and the US, and backed by an experienced research team, our organization provides an unparalleled view of the marketplace.

About UtiliPoint® International, Inc.
UtiliPoint is a leader in providing analysis and consulting services to the energy and utility industry. Our 76-year history and over 500 clients worldwide have led us to currently operate as an energy and utility consulting and issues analysis firm. Our staff is comprised of leading utility and energy experts with diverse backgrounds in utility generation, transmission & distribution, retail markets, mergers and acquisitions, new technologies, venture capital, information technology, outsourcing, renewable energy, regulatory affairs, and international issues.

CommodityPoint And seminel To Launch New Risk Management Study

Albuquerque, New Mexico—March 15th, 2009—CommodityPoint (www.commodity-point.com), a division of UtiliPoint International, Inc., is partnering with seminel (www.seminel.co.uk), the Energy Trading & Risk Management specialist consultancy, to undertake a new study around risk management at energy and commodity trading firms. The new study is a follow on to the recently completed Changes in Commodities Markets study – (http://www.utilipoint.com/rci/details.asp?ProductID=1176) which showed that risk management is the number one critical business issue facing commodity trading firms today.

“Risk management is now a key concern for commodity trading firms. Not just price risk but credit and counterparty risk, operatonal and regulatory risk,“ reports Dr. Vasey of UtiliPoint. “This new study will review risk management requirements in commodity trading firms.“

According to Paul McLean-Thorne of seminel, “Companies are spending vast amounts of time and money assessing their requirements, both current and anticipated, against the capabilities of the available systems. This study aims to help expedite these processes.“

The study will undertake a detailed review of risk analytics deployed by commodity and energy trading firms and their value to traders under current market conditions. Additionally, the effort will assess the software systems employed to perform those analytics; assess the most important aspects of risk management (not limited to price risk but including regulatory, operational and credit risk) required by traders under current and future market conditions; and assess where the practice of risk management is headed for commodity and energy trading in the future and the subsequent impact on risk management systems vendors and products.

About CommodityPoint
CommodityPoint is a division of leading energy and utilities analyst and consulting firm, UtiliPoint International, Inc. CommodityPoint provides Commodity Trading & Risk Management (CTRM) research, analysis and consulting services. Our services bring insight into business issues, trends, processes and technology, to utilities, energy companies, banks, brokers, funds, investors and vendors that enhance their competitive position and support critical business decisions. CommodityPoint has been formed to bring focus and clarity to the broad array of issues surrounding the wholesale trading of commodities. Our team provides expert analysis of market trends and, in particular, the technologies and applications supporting those that participate in regional or global commodity markets. Our principal analysts, Dr. Gary Vasey and Patrick Reames, bring years of practical experience to their roles. With offices in Europe and the US, and backed by an experienced research team, our organization provides an unparalleled view of the marketplace.

About UtiliPoint® International, Inc.
UtiliPoint is a leader in providing analysis and consulting services to the energy and utility industry. Our 73-year history and over 500 clients worldwide have led us to currently operate as an energy and utility consulting and issues analysis firm. Our staff is comprised of leading utility and energy experts with diverse backgrounds in utility generation, transmission & distribution, retail markets, mergers and acquisitions, new technologies, venture capital, information technology, outsourcing, renewable energy, regulatory affairs, and international issues.

About seminel
seminel is a specialist Energy Trading & Risk Management (ETRM) business and IT consultancy that works with companies in the Energy Industry to unlock the value in their IT systems. The company is involved in ETRM strategy, package analysis and solution implementations as well as providing specialist advice to companies embarking on implementing ETRM solutions.

seminel enables companies in the Energy market to optimize expenditure by helping them link their business needs and goals to their processes and systems. seminel also partners with technology companies to enable their systems to deliver maximum benefit to their users. Consequently seminel has unrivalled first-hand experience of the ETRM market, assisting both users and package vendors as well as generalist IT consultancies in a variety of situations.

Paul McLean-Thorne, a Director at seminel, will be participating in the project. Paul has been involved with ETRM for over 20 years at many levels: from developing ETRM strategies and visions to the hands-on evaluation and deployment of ETRM solutions. Paul speaks at Energy Industry conferences and seminars and also publishes white papers on the Energy market and IT e.g.
http://www.seminel.co.uk/documents/Energy%20risk%20article%20energy%20tr...

A prospectus for the study is available on request from Gary Vasey at gvasey@utilipoint.com or Paul McLean-Thorne at pmt@seminel.co.uk.

CommodityPoint Launches Vendor Perception Survey

CommodityPoint is undertaking an important survey into the perceptions of Trading & Risk Management Software vendors and products and would greatly appreciate your input.

The survey will take no more than 15 minutes of your time and has been designed for ease of response. Please do take this important survey. In return, UtiliPoint will provide you with a summary of results when this survey is completed. We sincerely appreciate your time and opinions.
Note: All responses will be kept confidential.

Vendors are asked not to respond, as vendor responses will be eliminated before analysis of the data.

We are seeking end user and system integrator views in this survey.
UtiliPoint appreciates your consideration.

To begin taking the brief appraisal, simply click on the following web link:

Survey here

CommodityPoint and Global Change Associates Partner to Reseach Emissions Trading & Monitoring Software Markets

CommodityPoint (A division of UtiliPoint International, Inc.) is partnering with Global Change Associates to undertake a multi-client research project and to produce a study report around emissions trading & monitoring software.

“Green trading has now become established and various ‘green’ commodities are now actively traded by a variety of participants including carbon, SOx and Nox as well as RECs (Renwable Energy Credits). Investor interest in trading these commodities is at an all time high. Consequently there is a growing demand for software products that will support these trading and risk management activities as well as in those software products that monitor and help manage emissions.“ Said Dr. Gary M. Vasey of CommodityPoint. “ Indeed, as forecast in our book “Trends in Energy Trading, Transaction and Risk Management Software – a Primer” (Booksurge, 2006), these two software categories are morphing as the two software markets collide.“

“The emerging greenhouse gas market is now ripe for software solutions on an enterprise level. Today, the environmental software space is quite small. It is estimated at $100 million with many small companies developing and extending their domain expertise into this area and beyond energy company applications (energy companies have had to comply with environmental laws in many jurisdictions for over a decade),“said Mr. Peter C. Fusaro of Global Change Associates Inc.“The need to measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions data is becoming a new area of business development for software companies especially with impending federal greenhouse gas laws in the US.“
The new study will:

• Identify green trading including GreenHouse Gas Emissions and monitoring software offerings available in the market.
• Review those solutions in terms of their functionality, architecture, maturity and evolution.
• Determine the industry’s views on what is required from such software solutions and,
• Benchmark end user perceptions around these software solutions.

The two companies are now activley seeking study sponsors and a prospectus is available on request from either Dr. Vasey (gvasey@utilipoint.com) or Mr. Fusaro (peterfusaro@global-change.com).

About CommodityPoint
CommodityPoint is a division of leading energy and utilities analyst and consulting firm, UtiliPoint International, Inc. CommodityPoint provides Commodity Trading & Risk Management (CTRM) research, analysis and consulting services. Our services bring insight into business issues, trends, processes and technology, to energy companies, utilities, banks, brokers, funds, investors and vendors, enhancing their competitive position and supporting critical business decisions. CommodityPoint has been formed to bring focus and clarity to the broad array of issues surrounding the wholesale trading of commodities. Our team provides expert analysis of market trends and, in particular, the technologies and applications supporting those that participate in regional or global commodity markets. Our principal analysts, Dr. Gary Vasey and Patrick Reames, bring years of practical experience to their roles. With offices in Europe and the US, and backed by an experienced research team, our organization provides an unparalleled view of the marketplace. www.commodity-point.com

About Global Change Associates
Global Change Associates was founded in 1991 by Peter C. Fusaro to focus on the convergence of energy and environmental financial markets. Peter is a recognized "thought leader" on energy and environmental markets, and he provides advisory to many companies on dealing with the impacts of climate change, clean technology and renewable energy for his clients. GCA's focus is on recognizing opportunities in both sustainable energy and environmental projects for financial services companies such as hedge funds and investment banks and for venture capital in cleantech and renewable energy. Peter published the first studies on green trading markets, energy hedge funds, Enron and energy e-commerce. He holds the 8th Annual Wall Street Green Trading Summit in New York on April 1 and 2nd (www.wsgts.com) His intellectual curiosity and market intelligence is second to none due to his extensive global network of energy and environmental industry experts. www.global-change.com

About UtiliPoint® International, Inc.
UtiliPoint is a leader in providing analysis and consulting services to the energy and utility industry. Our 76-year history and over 500 clients worldwide have led us to currently operate as an energy and utility consulting and issues analysis firm. Our staff is comprised of leading utility and energy experts with diverse backgrounds in utility generation, transmission & distribution, retail markets, mergers and acquisitions, new technologies, venture capital, information technology, outsourcing, renewable energy, regulatory affairs, and international issues. www.utilipoint.com

UtiliPoint Broadens Its Commodity Markets and Technologies Focus With the Launch of CommodityPoint

Albuquerque, New Mexico—January 3rd, 2009—UtiliPoint® International, Inc. (UtiliPoint) today announced the launch of CommodityPoint, a new global division focused on providing Commodity Trading & Risk Management (CTRM) research, analysis and consulting services. CommodityPoint‘s services are designed to provide insight into business issues, trends, processes and technology; enabling energy companies, banks, brokers, funds, investors, utilities, and vendors to enhance their competitive position and support critical business decisions. More details about CommodityPoint’s offerings, including research programs, capabilities, and sevices, may be found on its website at www.commodity-point.com.

The new CommodityPoint division will be headed by two seasoned analysts in the field in Dr. Gary M. Vasey (Europe) and Patrick Reames (North America) and supported by a research and marketing staff based in its Brno, Czech Republic office, with additional support from UtiliPoint's experts accross the US. CommodityPoint will consolidate the UtiliPoint Trading & Risk Management and Commodity Markets practices and will be well positioned to provide global perspectives and reach from its Houston, Texas and Czech Republic locatons.

“As we have grown the UtiliPoint presence in Trading & Risk Management both in North America and in Europe, our clients have asked us to entertain the broader commodity markets as many times the research and analysis we are doing applies to both, not just the utility or energy aspect of the industry,“ said Jon Brock, President & COO of UtiliPoint International. “Combining the seasoned experience of both Dr. Vasey and Mr. Reames to be focused on Commodity Trading & Risk Management is a welcomed move not only for our clients, but also for the market as a whole.“

CommodityPoint will continue to conduct market leading proprietary research, covering not only energy, but also the wider commodities markets; the results of which will be leveraged by the group's analysts in the provision of expertise market analysis and other services.

“Energy trading has merged with other commodities over the last year or so and we believe that our focus should now be on the broader commodity trading arena albeit with a strong continuing energy emphasis,“ said Dr. Gary M. Vasey. “ComodityPoint will afford us the ability to be more focused on global commodity trading and risk management issues as we seek to build a world class brand for premier analyst and consulting services for our current and future clients.“

"CommodityPoint is a reponse to our customers', and the market's, need for a more holostic view of wholesale commodity trading. Energy trading and risk management has, for many, evolved into commodity trading and risk management," said Patrick Reames. "Combining the skills and assests of our two practice areas will afford Gary and I the opportunity to better service our exisiting clients and meet the needs of those in the market seeking to better understand the trends and issues they're facing as they move forward in a very dynamic, and increasingly globalized, market."

About CommodityPoint
CommodityPoint is a division of leading energy and utilities analyst and consulting firm, UtiliPoint International, Inc. CommodityPoint provides Commodity Trading & Risk Management (CTRM) research, analysis and consulting services. Our services bring insight into business issues, trends, processes and technology, to energy companies, utilities, banks, brokers, funds, investors and vendors, enhancing their competitive position and supporting critical business decisions. CommodityPoint has been formed to bring focus and clarity to the broad array of issues surrounding the wholesale trading of commodities. Our team provides expert analysis of market trends and, in particular, the technologies and applications supporting those that participate in regional or global commodity markets. Our principal analysts, Dr. Gary Vasey and Patrick Reames, bring years of practical experience to their roles. With offices in Europe and the US, and backed by an experienced research team, our organization provides an unparalleled view of the marketplace.

About UtiliPoint® International, Inc.
UtiliPoint is a leader in providing analysis and consulting services to the energy and utility industry. Our 76-year history and over 500 clients worldwide have led us to currently operate as an energy and utility consulting and issues analysis firm. Our staff is comprised of leading utility and energy experts with diverse backgrounds in utility generation, transmission & distribution, retail markets, mergers and acquisitions, new technologies, venture capital, information technology, outsourcing, renewable energy, regulatory affairs, and international issues.