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What an innovative way to speculate By Hugh Chow? LISTEN up! Have you heard the word on the street? Somebody's put out a contract on Saddam Hussein. A futures contract. Futures contracts - those arcane derivatives instruments normally associated with the world of high finance - are now being traded on the Internet over when the Iraqi President is likely to be ousted from power. In recent days, talk of these unusual futures has been doing the rounds among the financial whiz kids at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. The Dublin-based online betting firm that offers these contracts says 27 people in Singapore have jumped at the chance to profit from political developments halfway around the world - though most of the traders so far have been based in the United States. tradesports.com is giving aspiring Nick Leesons the chance to buy and sell two futures contracts whose values change in line with the prospects of the Iraqi leader being toppled in the coming months. The first contract allows punters to take a position over whether Mr Saddam will be gone by the end of March. The second extends the effective period until the end of June. Futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specified price and time in the future. They usually derive their value from shares, stock market indexes and commodities. In this case, the 'asset' is the money staked by punters over the likelihood of Mr Saddam surviving until March, or until June. Suppose you stake $50 that he will be gone by March 31. If he is toppled before this date, you would win your money back, plus an additional sum determined by positions taken by other punters. This amount is taken from the losers' accounts and credited to yours. If not, you would lose your $50, which then goes to the punters who got it right. What makes this different from a standard wager is that the 'bets' themselves can be traded because their values change with developing news which could affect the outcome. tradesports.com says most participants choose not to hold these contracts to maturity, but they buy and sell with each new development. For the March 31 contract, for example, the price fell when Mr Saddam appeared to be co-operating with international weapons inspectors - but rose again when empty chemical warheads were discovered south of Baghdad last week. As with conventional exchanges, trading takes place between members. The firm charges a small fee for each transaction. tradesports.com chief executive officer John Delaney said: 'The idea was a result of looking at all the things that have an impact and how passionate people are about this particular issue.'