This past year was busy for our markets, with issues from several angles impacting your thoughts of the marketplace one way or another. Much of it was covered by CME Group experts and thought leaders here on Open Markets, but because of all the constant movement and heavy flow of information, we realize you may have missed some of our views. For that reason, we’ve compiled the following highlights – broken down by product class and issue  – to give you a chance to catch up on what we covered on the blog this year.

In 2012, we’ll be bringing you even more online content with the merger of Open Markets and CME Group magazine. For now, enjoy these highlights from 2011:

Ag Commodities

Tim Andriesen wrote about his experience speaking to the U.N. Committee on Food Security in Rome, something he called an “eye opening event.” Tim also wrote about the evolution in ag options that led us to launch weekly options this year.

Meanwhile, Dave Lehman wrote about the factors driving food prices, a piece that included a helpful infographic showing what makes up the cost of food, and about why research doesn’t support blaming speculators. Back in June, he discussed the troubling conclusions from the U.N.’s commodity markets report.

Regulation

On the regulatory front, Linda Rich wrote about how we can ensure transparent and effective commodity markets. We also continued to watch the implementation of rules associated with the Dodd-Frank legislation that included our concerns over the conditional limits proposal, which we covered here and here.

Interest Rates

Sean Tully wrote about why our Eurodollar futures contract is the most widely traded and versatile interest rate futures product in the world, and answered some important questions about Euribor futures.

Energy

Gary Morsches explained why the time was right for NYMEX Brent futures contracts, and we welcomed the reversal of the Seaway pipeline, which will help bring much needed crude oil from Cushing, Okla. to the gulf in 2012. We also put speculation in crude oil into perspective, and Bob Levin told us why the two-thirds myth for oil price referencing doesn’t add up.

FX

Roger Rutherford wrote about the opportunity in our G7 currency pairs, and told us about the launch of two new Chinese Yuan-denominated futures contracts at CME Group.

We also took a look at the annual survey of FX technology trends conducted by Streambase, a real time streaming data firm.

Global Issues

2011 was a year full of major macroeconomic events that influenced markets in small ways and large. We took some time to explore the sovereign debt issues in the Eurozone, and covered a panel of experts who gave their thoughts on Europe’s future.

Metals

Harriet Hunnable took us through the virtual steel mill, and explained why it’s a revolutionary change for the steel industry. She also explained why, amid much volatility in the industry, we saw a steady rise in volume for our U.S. hot rolled coil contract. We also found out why there’s a world of opportunities in the ferrous metals industry.

Events

In September, we awarded the annual MSRI prize to Thomas Sargent, who went on to win this year’s Nobel prize in Economics.

In October, ten senior leaders at CME Group spoke on panels at FIA Expo. These included CEO Craig Donohue and Chief Operating Officer Bryan Durkin, who spoke with FIA about our progress in several areas this year.

Later that month, we blogged from the Global Financial Leadership conference in Naples, Fla., where we heard from  a panel of experts on the global energy landscape, financial historian and author Niall Ferguson told us about the political risk in global business, and Chinese economist Cheng Siwei talked about the path to internationalization for the renmimbi. The event featured several other panels and speeches from global decision makers, including a session with Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post and Biz Stone, one of the co-founders of Twitter, on the new information paradigm.

Technology/Innovation

Chief information officer Kevin Kometer wrote here and here about some of the prestigious recognition his team received this year for their technology leadership, and Julie Winkler described what a century of innovation means for IBM and all kinds of other businesses, and examined if we are in the golden age of innovation.

We also took a look at our new product batting average over the past 11 years, and the liquidity and efficiency that high-frequency trading brings to markets. Bryan Durkin also gave us a closer look at circuit breakers, and the role of risk mitigation systems in high-frequency trading.

Partnerships

Open Markets was also the place for expert commentary on CME Group’s growing global partnerships, including the launch of the CME Group and BM&FBOVESPA PUMA Trading System.

South to North, and North to South order routing agreements with the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer)

Clearing/Margins

In one of our most popular topics on the blog, John Labuszewski made sense of volatility and how it relates to margins, and Kim Taylor helped us understand margin changes.

Thanks for reading Open Markets in 2011, we look forward to bringing you more thoughts and opinions in 2012.