In the early days of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, economic opportunity was phenomenal, said CME currency trader Yra Harris. ”I used to say it was like Jed Clampett [the character in old TV series “The Beverly Hillbillies” who struck it rich] shooting at the ground and hitting oil.” It was a booming business.
Yra Harris was on a career track to become a college professor in the 1970s, earning a master’s degree in economics. But when he came home from school his parents gave him $250 for a suit and told him to go look for a job. He did, interviewing at Continental Bank, First Chicago and other banks, but he said he had “broader expectations,” as well as aspirations to go to Washington to work for a congressional committee. A family friend suggested he get an IMM (International Monetary Market) seat at the CME for $10,000, but it wasn’t until May 1977 that he got a membership.
Larry Abrams’ career started with a chance encounter on a ski lift which was prompted by a good deed. He and some friends helped to push a stranded car that was stuck during a blizzard in Park City, Utah. The next day on the lift line he was paired with the man whose car he had helped push out the night before, who happened to be an options market maker at the Cboe. By the time he got off the lift line, he knew that was what he wanted to do.
The John Lothian Daily Update is a podcast turning the daily JLN hits and takes comments, our original content and the stories and quips in the top box of First Read into a daily podcast.
In the second of a two-part interview with John Lothian for the Open Outcry Traders History Project, Chicago attorney Sheldon Cohen reminisced about his long tenure on the trading floor and in exchange management, beginning in the 1970s.
Peter Harrigan capped off his career as a floor trader on the CME and the Pacific Exchange in the middle of a bear market in 2002. Since then, he’s managed money, helped start up an AI company and traded cryptocurrencies, but he continues to speak fondly of his floor days, even the challenging ones.
Attorney Sheldon Cohen started out his trading career as a risk manager for Goldberg Brothers, a CBOT clearing firm that was later sold to LIT Holdings, and eventually began trading at the Midwest Stock Exchange. He bought his own seat at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) in 1976.
Peter Harrigan is the co-founder and current CEO of Grey Swan Digital, a company that creates and trades customized derivatives. Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s he wanted to become an astronaut. His career path later rocketed in a different direction, taking him to Chicago’s trading floors.
Rotter was interviewed by John Lothian for the Open Outcry Traders History Project. This is the second part of a two-part presentation of that interview.
Bradley Rotter has been a pioneer in financial futures, hedge fund investing and cryptocurrencies. He was on the trading floor of the Chicago Board of Trade when financial futures were just getting started. He convinced Merrill Lynch they needed a financial futures expert and was hired, then later moved to New York to work for EF Hutton before returning to Chicago to become the floor manager for AG Becker & Co. when bonds were first traded in the old South Room of the CBOT.
The CEO of tastytrade, Tom Sosnoff, was interviewed by John Lothian News for the Open Outcry Traders History Project. Sosnoff was a trader on the floor of the CBOE for 20 years after growing up in New York. He moved to Chicago at the behest of some co-workers at his...
Quantitative Brokers' Executive Chairman Tom Ascher Recalls His Days Trading on Floor In Part Two of the JLN interview with Tom Ascher for the Open Outcry Traders History Project, Ascher talks about getting involved in exchange politics. He joined CBOE’s board and...
Quantitative Brokers' Executive Chairman Tom Ascher Recalls His Days Trading on Floor Tom Ascher was interviewed by John Lothian News over Zoom for the Open Outcry Traders History Project. Ascher traded at the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and after getting into...
A Trader and Industry Executive Who Continues to Change with the Times. John Lothian News interviewed Scott Knudsen, the founder of Cove Markets and a longtime former executive with IMC, for The Path to Electronic Trading video series, but we broke off this part of...
First Read $51,906/$300,000 (17.3%) ++++ Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The SEC issued an "Opinion of the Commission" on Monday in a case between ABN AMRO Chicago LLC and Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc. and C2 Options Exchange, Inc. Here is a...
We visit more than 100 websites daily for financial news (Would YOU do that?)
Observations & Insight The SEC issued an "Opinion of the Commission" on Monday in a case between ABN AMRO Chicago LLC and Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc. and C2 Options Exchange, Inc. Here is a summary of the opinion: "ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago LLC petitions...
Everything you need to know about Options Today