Officials: Open futures may prevent stock drops

Chinese officials said stock prices probably wouldn't have fallen so abruptly last week if investors were able to use stock-index futures to bet against the market, the Wall Street Journal reported. Without futures contracts, the only way for investors to make money is in a rising market, a risky prospect over the long term. Currently contracts in copper, aluminum, natural rubber and fuel oil are already traded at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, but the government has expressed a desire to expand futures trading to stock indices and currencies. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will deliver a speech today at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, encouraging room for more open trading in China's stocks, bonds and currency.