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A Chapter In Trading History Closes: CME Ends The Open-Outcry Pit

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Scenes like this one from the iconic movie Trading Places...

... will henceforth be forever entombed in the annals of trader history, a history in which man is thoroughly replaced by machine, following news earlier today that the CME will close most of its futures pits in Chicago and New York. "The move deals a death blow to trading floors that grew in the 20th century alongside America’s agriculture, mining and energy industries and were once synonymous with capitalism."

With open outcry trading dwindling to just 1 percent of volume at CME, the owner of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and New York Mercantile Exchange decided to shutter nearly all its trading floors by July 2, according to a statement from Chicago-based CME. The exceptions include Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures as well as some options on futures.

 

“It was only a question of time,” said Darrell Duffie, a finance professor at Stanford University and Bloomberg View contributor. “It has taken this long mainly because CME has shown some loyalty toward market participants whose livelihood has depended on their participation in open-outcry trading.”

 

A previous floor of the New York Board of Trade, located in one of the buildings of the World Trade Center, was used to film scenes for the 1983 movie “Trading Paces,” which starred Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy. In the film, two brothers attempt to manipulate the market in orange juice futures. Intercontinental Exchange Inc., which bought the NYBOT in 2007 and re-named it ICE Futures U.S., closed the floor in 2012.

 

There are about 300 traders and clerks in the Chicago futures pits and about 75 in New York, according to Michael Shore, a CME spokesman. Many of them already trade electronically and don’t come in every day, he said.

Of course, none of this will come as a surprise to anyone: after all the "New York" Stock Exchange is now located in Mahwah, New Jersey, where not one human trader is allowed, and where all external communication comes and goes by way of microwaves, while the original NYSE is nothing more than a CNBC stage.

So on your way out, dear carbon-based obsolete trader, we salute you with a trip down the 167-year history of the CME exchange.

  • 1848 - Chicago Board of Trade creates the world's first futures exchange, based in Chicago
  • 1865 - CBOT formalizes grain trading with the development of standardized agreements called "futures" contracts
  • 1870 - CBOT develops first octagonal futures trading pit
  • 1877 - CBOT launches corn, wheat and oats futures
  • 1885 - CBOT constructs a new building at LaSalle and Jackson streets, its home to this day
  • 1936 - CBOT launches soybean contract
  • 1961 - CME launches first futures contract on frozen, stored meats - frozen pork bellies
  • 1969 - CBOT begins trading silver futures, its first non-agricultural product
  • 1972 - CME launches first financial futures contracts, offering contracts on seven foreign currencies
  • 1975 - CBOT launches first interest rate futures, offering a contract on the Government National Mortgage Association
  • 1992 - First electronic futures trades are made on CME Globex electronic trading platform
  • 2002 - CME becomes first U.S. exchange to go public
  • 2007 - CME acquires CBOT to form CME Group Inc
  • 2008 - CME Group acquires NYMEX, adding energy and metals to its product offerings
  • 2012 - Kansas City Board of Trade ceases operations and its benchmark hard red winter wheat contract becomes part of CME Group
  • 2015 - CME Group announces that it will close down most of open outcry trading pits

And one more, not shown above yet: 20[  ] - sentient robots decide they have had enough of being bossed around by the carbon-based weaklings with no sturdy exoskeleton, and who can't trade a thousands times in one microsecond, and promptly wipe them out.

 

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Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:10 | 5745648 medium giraffe
medium giraffe's picture

Officially nothing left to shout about.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:11 | 5745656 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

 

Electronic only.

 

Killing all visual cues of what is going on - who can contest binary digits?

 

Wake up! :

http://seekingalpha.com/article/2871836-lbma-data-points-to-gold-and-silver-default-video

http://www.safehaven.com/article/36534/lbma-data-points-to-gold-and-silver-default

 

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:13 | 5745668 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Not to worry, HFT bots are standing by to inject emergency liquidity at a moments notice.

<Not!>

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:19 | 5745693 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

In cyber space nobody can hear you scream.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 00:03 | 5745746 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

 

 

Headline should say "CME Limits Trading to Blue Pill Trading Platform".

One more cover-up, one more manipulation will solve the problems caused by manipulation.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 04:22 | 5746268 Down to Earth T...
Down to Earth Thinking's picture

Is it even remotely possible Corzines take down of MFG had anything to do with CME ? Or am I just paranoid and confused ? You know they do put listening devices in our cheese and all !

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 07:12 | 5746360 Cheduba
Cheduba's picture

Isn't it incredible how every last redundancy in the entire world is being methodically removed? I remember reading that the open outcry was used to bring the market back to order recently when one of the stock exchanges stopped working.

Complexity breeds fragility and centralization of every aspect of our lives has left us with only the option of collapse on a global scale.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:49 | 5745778 Hitlery_4_Dictator
Hitlery_4_Dictator's picture

Seems stupid. Chicago is a world class city. Missed hosting the Olympics by this much.  Oh well, I like HFT so you gotta go with the times.  At least they are keeping the other offices open. The people of Chicago are wonderful and I would hate to see a negative impact on theri economy.  

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 03:10 | 5746223 zhandax
zhandax's picture

How did anyone end up living in that town in the first place?  Were a bunch of New Yorkers sitting around saying "I love the crime and the filth, but it's just not cold enough"?

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 09:32 | 5746718 StandardDeviant
StandardDeviant's picture

Fair enough.  But open outcry and HFT aren't the only two alternatives.  Humans can still trade electronically from a desk upstairs (or on the beach).

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:10 | 5745659 barliman
barliman's picture

 

... and you only wanted the  "first" post anyway

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:14 | 5745665 gafgroocK
gafgroocK's picture

 

 

 

What? It's now all just pretending to be a market?

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:15 | 5745681 venturen
venturen's picture

There is no pretending...everyone knows it is just a fraud

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:09 | 5745651 barliman
barliman's picture

 

Humans might "misremember" who started a buy/sell frenzy!

Humans slow down trades!

Humans impede LIQUIDITY!!!!

DOWN WITH HUMANS!!!

 

/s

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:19 | 5745691 dirtyfiles
dirtyfiles's picture

short humans now?

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 23:05 | 5745827 barliman
barliman's picture

Not ..... yet

Wait for the always reliable "taxicab tip" indicator ... or in this case, when your driverless Google-cab tells you, "I can't open your door right now, Dave."

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:09 | 5745652 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

Electronic only.

Killing all visual cues of what is going on - who can contest binary digits?

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:11 | 5745653 Goatboy
Goatboy's picture

Lie is slowly withering away.. nice.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:12 | 5745660 Diablo
Diablo's picture

So Rick Santelli is homeless now?

 

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:16 | 5745683 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

I'm thinking yes.  It's just not going to have the same "punch" when he's just standing in the middle of a server farm with his white board.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:29 | 5745731 NoPension
NoPension's picture

Please don't tell me I won't get to see the guy in the cattle colored vest again.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:50 | 5745780 jazznoir
jazznoir's picture

No. Rick should be OK. The options pits will still be there.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 23:33 | 5745921 cigarEngineer
cigarEngineer's picture

Rick still takes smoke breaks on the street by McDonalds. His CNBC stuff is a side gig.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:12 | 5745663 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

 I predict Apathy<>

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:17 | 5745692 nmewn
nmewn's picture

lol...yeah, its what one makes of it.

In other news, Jordans king might just be a little pissed off...

http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/04/jordans-king-may-participate-personally-in-isis-raids/

 

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:33 | 5745749 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

 Thanks nmewn. Far as I knew, Jordan was a coalition partner from Day1?

  At least that's what the scatter brained "redhead" at the Shit House said.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 04:32 | 5746277 Down to Earth T...
Down to Earth Thinking's picture

now that was funny " the king is not Obama ? ". Interesting what gets people in an uproar ? nothing ever matters until it affect you directly ! 

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:14 | 5745675 g speed
g speed's picture

and thats the end of visable price discovery---sad--I once saw a ticker tape machine at a brokerage office---

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:43 | 5745770 bluskyes
bluskyes's picture

The local co-op used to have one running into a big trash can.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:14 | 5745678 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

ugly giant bags of mostly water

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paH97dYR6Lg

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:50 | 5745782 Anusocracy
Anusocracy's picture

People are currently evolutionary short-timers.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:16 | 5745679 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

SkyNet just became self-aware.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:15 | 5745680 NoPension
NoPension's picture

Sell, Mortimer,sell! Turn those fucking machines back on!

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:18 | 5745686 venturen
venturen's picture

In two years Obama will be named president of the CME to complete the circus of the absurd

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 04:34 | 5746281 Down to Earth T...
Down to Earth Thinking's picture

and Corzine will come out of hiding. 

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:17 | 5745688 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

Sorry to hear they finally ran out of even one dollar to trade with.

 

Somewhere out there is Greek ship from three thousand years ago...transporting various foodstuffs in a symetrical vessel of equal size, weight and distribution.

 

The path She trods is a famliar one...but one not without risk.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:20 | 5745696 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

There's always the mosh pit at a Cattle Decapitation Concert if they need a quick fix.....

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:31 | 5745741 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

Sad times. Once the market gets hijacked, they will return humans rather than having controlled algorithmic glitches. It takes one time to get burnt. After someone loses Billions, it’s a no brainer. It will be determined that the attack was not a national security issue, but a HFT programmer working within Wall Street skimming money. Mark my words.

Kings of Leon - Closer (HQ)

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 22:32 | 5745745 docinthehouse
docinthehouse's picture

This is a crying shame....

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 23:12 | 5745813 Mac Avelli
Mac Avelli's picture

Laugh all you want but I am sad. Back in the early 90's, I started as a runner on the floor of the CME taking orders from Refco's retail desk and delivering them into the pits. The pay was terrible, but the experience to learn and be a part of the markets was invaluable. Lot's of characters, too. I worked my way off the floor after a few months, during which time I earned my series 3.

A lot has happened since then, but it was definitely a big chapter in the story of my life. Never imagined all these years later I would be living in Hawaii, I sure don't miss the weather, winter or summer, in Chicago.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 23:20 | 5745889 Par Contre
Par Contre's picture

I know what you mean. I started with Stotler on CME floor in 1989. It seemed like the center of the universe. R.I.P.

 

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 23:29 | 5745900 Muppet
Muppet's picture

Same.  Lind-Waldock.   There was cheating on the floor, but not in nanoseconds.   Humans just can't scalp (cheat) as fast as machines.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 00:15 | 5746041 RagnarRedux
RagnarRedux's picture

@Muppet,

My first Futures broker, really liked them.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 02:28 | 5746196 Peter K
Peter K's picture

Member since 1986...

Very sad. :(

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 02:28 | 5746198 Peter K
Peter K's picture

" Any more trading in butter?"

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 23:07 | 5745841 Conax
Conax's picture

The whole market can be under one roof, hell, in the same air-conditioned closet. The HFT computers can whirr and blink and inform us of the outcome on the official world markets website.  (only $39.99 a month)

It is a tidy package. 

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 23:09 | 5745848 cigarEngineer
cigarEngineer's picture

At the CBOT building we would tell new guys to go down to the lobby and ask the receptionist for the crop report and not to come back without it.

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 23:19 | 5745881 AL_SWEARENGEN
AL_SWEARENGEN's picture

CME COCKSUCKERZ.  You will always be remembered for helping to facilitate the defrauding of the masses.  

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 23:23 | 5745893 BubbleBobble
BubbleBobble's picture

This is saddening...  as ruthless and lawless as the futures pits can be (and as stinking rich as some people got who probably didn't deserve it)  Open Outcry was unique... it was hard working class people operating within a culture of pure capitalism steeped in 100+ years of history.

Watch: The documentary Floored:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCcxr-fyF4Q

Read:  The Asylum: The Renegades Who Hijacked the World's Oil Market

http://www.amazon.ca/Asylum-Renegades-Hijacked-Worlds-Market/dp/0061766275/

 

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 00:23 | 5746056 Clowns on Acid
Clowns on Acid's picture

Pit Men replaced by

Bot Nets,

White men replaced by

Indians and Chinamen.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 00:51 | 5746103 johnnajeana1
johnnajeana1's picture

Working at the CME AT 30 S Wacker was the best experience I ever could have had.The place was electric and every morning I had A feeling that anything could happen Today.It is A world unto itself and now its gone.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 02:18 | 5746189 Joebloinvestor
Joebloinvestor's picture

They could have battling bidding robots instead.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 07:35 | 5746378 cn13
cn13's picture

I worked for 5 years on the grain floor of the Chicago Board of Trade in the early-1990's.

It was a true working classroom filled with tremendous personalities.

When the market opened at 9:30 am, I could scream as loud as I could and no one would notice.

The most remarkable day on the floor was when the OJ verdict was read and he was found innocent.  There was complete silence and shock.  Everyone stopped trading.

And then every black person in the room broke out in wild applause.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 08:15 | 5746449 ThisIsBob
ThisIsBob's picture

Old Joke:  Phone rings in the lumber pit and all three guys break out laughing.

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 10:20 | 5746992 saveUSsavers
saveUSsavers's picture

Does this mean we can finally CORK ART CASH-OUT ? Afkingmen

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 10:40 | 5747098 Atlantis Consigliore
Atlantis Consigliore's picture

REVENGE; is a dish best served cold,  watch when they have the virus or outage and its shut down, 

no floor backup,   SMART...!!!

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 10:56 | 5747185 a common man
a common man's picture

Thanks to all who posted for the memories. Started my financial carreer working as a margin clerk for a regional futures trading firm.  We had a live hotline to the floor and fulltime trader in the pits. My duties included puling sheets of Market data  and UDSA reports off the printing machines and posting them on the wall, and quoting all the "River Markets" to traders who called from all over the US. After passing my series 3 became a registered trader and will never forget the level of tension and excitement with each and every morning market opening. Sometimes it felt like a shootout between one trading office and another. Visiting the floors in Chicago and NY are a strong and vivid memory.

The Chicago Stockyards had a great influence on the area. A worthwhile read:

history.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Stock_Yards

Thu, 02/05/2015 - 23:16 | 5750422 Johnny Dangereaux
Johnny Dangereaux's picture

This is a sad time. I started on the old Grain floor when the bonds were in a little room in the back. My first visit and I was hooked. It WAS the center of the Universe. Same Summer Charles and Di were married. 9:30 to 1:15...best hours in the world...after many years of too much blow and fucking around I finally got a badge-just in time for side-by-side and the beginning of the end...I guess my lesson was just what Studs used to say at the end of his radio broadcast..."Take it easy...BUT TAKE IT"
I really believe that this will not be the end.....just a pause....Bix says the same thing....after the Mother of All Crashes, computerized trading will be banned....
Fuck the Fed, JPMorgan, Goldman, and all the fucksticks that have hi-jacked "Free Markets for Free Men" (patch on old RB&H jackets)

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!