The weather derivatives market was buzzing with reports last week that Enron plans to put its weather desk on the block. "People are saying the desk is one of the things Enron would definitely sell as part of a plan to unload assets. Any bank looking to break into the market would definitely be interested," said a weather trader. With Dynegy and Enron reportedly pushing to complete their USD10.5 billion merger by next summer, traders speculated that Enron's 50-strong weather business could be among the causalities of the union. Calls to spokesmen at Dynegy and Enron were not returned before press time. Mark Tawney, head of Enron's weather desk, also did not return calls.
Traders reasoned that it would make sense for Dynegy to sell Enron's weather business while it is fully staffed rather than see the desk shrink through attrition in the uncertain period ahead of the merger closing. "They're probably thinking if we're going to lose these guys anyway, why don't we sell the whole weather desk. At least as a whole it has some value," another professional remarked.
