the use of customers' collateral to secure their loans. This is legal with customer consent, although some securities and collateral must be kept separately. Commission The fee paid to a broker to execute a trade, based on number of shares, bonds, options, and/or their dollar value. In 1975, deregulation led to the establishment of discount brokers, who charge lower commissions than full service brokers. Full service brokers offer advice and usually have a staff of analysts who follow specific industries. Discount brokers simply execute a client's order and usually do not offer an opinion on a stock. Also known as a round-turn. Commissions are known as round-turn only in futures trading, since the commission is assessed only after liquidation of the position. Commission broker A broker on the floor of an exchange who acts as agent for a particular brokerage house and buys and sells stocks for the brokerage house on a commission basis. Commission house A firm that buys and sells futures contracts for customer accounts. Related: futures commission merchant, omnibus account. Commission-only compensation Payment to a financial advisers of only commissions on investmentspurchased when the client implements the recommended financial plan. Commitment Describes a trader'sobligation to accept or make delivery on a futures contract. Related: Open interest. Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures (CUSIP) Committee that assigns identifying numbers and codes for all securities. These "CUSIP" numbers and symbols are used when recording all buy or sell orders. Commodities Exchange Center (CEC) The location of five New York futures exchanges: Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX); the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX); New York Cotton Exchange, Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange (CS&CE), and New York Futures Exchange (NYFE). Commodity A commodity is food, metal, or another fixed physical substance that investorsbuy or sell, usually via futures contracts. Commodity-backed bond A bond with interest payments tied to the price of an underlyingcommodity. Commodity Bundle One unit of the collection of the complete set of goods produced and sold in the world market. Commodity Channel Index An index used in technical analysis. High values mean a potential future correction (downward movement in underlying asset) and low values potentially forecast a rally. Details in Donald Lambert's October 1980 article in Commodities Magazine. Commodity futures contract An agreement to buy a specific amount of a commodity at a specified price on a particular date in the future, allowing a producer to guarantee the price of a product or raw material used in production. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) An agency created by the US Congress in 1974 to regulate exchange trading in futures. Commodity indices Indices measuring the price and performance of physical commodities, often by the price of futures contracts for the commodities that are listed on commodityexchanges. Commodity paper A loan or advance secured by commodities. Commodity Research Bureau Produces a popular price index of 17 commodities which is often used to track inflationarytrends in the economy. Commodity Trading Advisor An investment manager that focuses on long and short trading in the futures markets. The trades are often intraday trades. Sometimes referred to as