Sunday, December 21, 2008

Minneapolis Grain Exchange closes trading floor

Here are a couple photos which were taken on the last day of floor trading at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, December 19, 2008. The quality isn't great since I forgot my camera and used my Blackberry.

The first photo is during the trading day around noon and it's quite obvious as to why the trading floor got shut down.

The following photo is the moments before the final trading bell of the MGEX floor. Many spectators crowded around the pit and really only about a dozen or so guys were trading. One of my mentors, Dan Roemer, is trading in the yellow jacket.

Monday, December 8, 2008

The 11th Commandment, Risk Not Thy Whole Wad

Photo credit goes to my good friend Tuan Le. At the KCBT, this poster which was originally issued by the CME to promote options, has been taped to a desk for three eternities. Risk Not Thy Whole Wad is probably the first commandment when it comes to trading.

Eurodollar pit stands empty

Before the CME trading floor was taken apart, I snapped a couple photos of the empty trading floor in May 2008. They aren't the greatest photos because they were taken with my Blackberry.


Closing of CME 444 West Jackson trading floor

Photo taken November 23, 1983 of last trading day on 444 West Jackson trading floor. Some of the picture got cut off because my scanner isn't big enough. Remember to click on the photo to enlarge detail.

How come there's no........

Below are three posters from approximately 1974 when the CME did an ad campaign mocking communist countries. I can recall seeing one mocking Yugoslavia in an office but I haven't seen it again. If anyone has a copy, please submit it!

How come there's no Peking Duck Exchange? Difference of opinion - openly aired - is as essential to a free economy as it is to a free society. That's why great commodity exchanges can flourish in this country and not in the People's Republic of China. You can't have free markets in a regimented society. And you can't have regimented markets in a free society.


How come there's no Havana Cigar Exchange? It just wouldn't work. A commodity futures market such as those that flourish in the United States and other free countries simply can't operate in a highly regulated economy. Free markets - or controlled? When you get right down to it, that's probably the single biggest difference between their way and ours. Except, of course, for the standard of living.
How come there's no Moscow Mercantile Exchange? Millions of potatoes, cabbage and other commodities change hands in the U.S.S.R. every year, but not a ruble's worth is traded on any futures market. In a regulated economy, the price of a head of cabbage is exactly what the government says it is - no more, no less. Does their system work? Apparently. Does it work as well as ours? You've got to be kidding.

SUPERMARKET - CME ad from mid to late '70s

Source unknown but out of a national financial magazine sometime in the mid to late 1970s.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Trading Pit History


Finally the initial launch of Trading Pit History is ready. It's important to get further submissions for hand signals used in the trading pit so if there are any that you know of and aren't already on the site, please submit them. Thanks!
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