A WSJ AsiaLinks email alert contained the following figures, explaining briefly where the action is:
Over the past six years, global futures trading on the world’s exchanges has grown nearly 30% a year, expanding the total derivatives market to about $500 trillion — four times the value of all publicly traded stocks and bonds. As a result, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange surpassed the New York Stock Exchange in market value in 2003. [WSJ: Derivatives Explosion Spurs Exchange Consolidation]