Coffee futures fall; ICE to stem coffee volatility

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Coffee futures traded on ICE Futures US fell by nearly 2% Friday morning to touch their lowest levels since early April. The exchange on Thursday said that starting Monday, it will void trades in the coffee "C" contracts, the world benchmark for Arabica coffee, that are more than 5 cents above or below the "equilibrium price," or the level prices stabilize at the end of a spike. A price spike occurs when the price rises and then falls, or vice versa, within 90 seconds or less, according to ICE. September coffee fell 4.8 cents to $2.62 a pound. In February, cocoa futures sank 6% in a second, with the move generally blamed on high-frequency and computerized trading, according to the Wall Street Journal.

(SOurce: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/coffee-futures-fall-ice-to-stem-coffee-volatility-2011-05-20?siteid=rss)