Introduction to the Hurricane Futures Market

The Hurricane Futures Market

The Hurricane Futures Market allows meteorology researchers and students to invest real money ($5.00 - $500.00) in securities whose payoff depend on where a given hurricane makes its first landfall. The prices of these securities will then be used to forecast where a given hurricane will land.

Additional Information

The Hurricane Futures Market Media Kit has links to more infomation about our market.
Overview of the IEM project provided in an August 28, 1995, Wall Street Journal article reproduced on our webserver courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.

DISCLAIMER: The Hurricane Futures Market is an experimental research tool and is not a hurricane track forecast. Individuals seeking information on tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, should contact the National Hurricane Center. For the official National Hurricane Center forecasts, go to their website at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.

If you serve in the National Weather Service, or serve in NOAA's Office of the General Counsel and provide services to NWS, you may not invest in the Hurricane Futures Market. Because NWS employees may have access to meteorological information not available to members of the public and to such information prior to when it is made available to the public, investment in Hurricane Futures would create an appearance of use of non-public information for personal gain, which is prohibited by ethics regulations as a misuse of Government resources or one's Government position. The specific regulations that address misuse of Government position (using public office for private gain, using non-public information) are 5 C.F.R. § § 2635.701 - 2635.70

The Hurricane Futures Market is a joint project between the Economics Department, University of Miami School of Business, the Iowa Electronic Market, University of Iowa Tippie College of Business, the Division of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, University of Miami Rosenstiel School, and the Division of Marine Affairs, Rosenstiel School.

The following organizations support the Hurricane Futures Market: