Another floor of shouting traders has just closed in New York, after CME Group (named after Chicago Mercantile Exchange) closed its open outcry trading pits. The trading floor still continues in pits on various commodities in the Chicago building that houses the Chicago Board of Trade, in an approach that dates back to when the building opened in 1930, writes The Economist magazine this week.
The Chicago exchange only has 9 pits, down from 32 in 2007, and closed one trading floor in 2015 that used to be very crowded and busy. Like the rest of the hyperactive world securities and commodities markets that used to heave with life, emotion, despair, greed, fear, ambition, deception and many other human conditions, gradually the computers have taken over.
The magazine writes: “In the end it was not scandal or terrorism that undermined open outcry; it was efficiency. Computers turned out to be quicker, cheaper and more precise than humans”.
It notes that CME Group was quick to understand that most business was in interest rates, stockmarket indices and currencies, not in traditional commodities. It picked up good volumes and made economies of scale in trading and clearing and then bought up other exchanges that ran into problems. Volumes continue to climb and a tumultuous year of surprising votes in UK and US have seen a big spike in activity and volatility. It provided US and UK traders with a record December and record-breaking volumes on exchanges such as the CME.
The Chicago Board of Trade was formed in 1848 and moved in 1856 to make space for 122 new members.
