Sponsors
THE PATH TO ELECTRONIC TRADING
The Path to Electronic Trading was inspired by the success of the Open Outcry Traders History Project. Gerry Corcoran, the CEO of RJ O’Brien, came to JLN to tell the story of how his one day of working on the trading floor helped create the path to electronic trading as RJO and other firms applied technology to improve the efficiency of a futures pit busting at the seams with paper orders.
His story inspired us to develop this new video series that will capture the individual stories of the people and firms that embraced technology and created the evolutionary path from the shouting of orders on the trading floor to trading all forms of derivatives, securities and other products via purely electronic means.
The Path to Electronic Trading series will capture stories from the beginning of order routing to trading floors, to after hour trading, then side-by-side trading and eventually just electronic trading. It will take us from TOPS, CUBS, Electronic Clerks and COMET to CME’s Globex and Globex II, the CBOT’s Project A to a/c/e and LIFFE Connect. It will take us from the NYSE to the ECNs and beyond. The series will address electronic options trading inspired by the ISE’s entry to the response by CBOE and other exchanges. And it will even go as far as trading in tokens and the Defi trading space and DEX exchanges.
We welcome suggestions for individuals to interview. Suggestions can be emailed to johnlothian@johnlothian.com.
Mark Smith’s Path To Electronic Trading: From Banking to Blockchain
Mark Smith started his career at broker-dealer Edward Jones, became an entrepreneur and then after his second firm was purchased by Citi, he found himself working for the bank, which he found an eye-opening experience.
Mark Smith’s Path to Electronic Trading is Awash in Entrepreneurial Drive
The Path to Electronic Trading for Mark Smith started in a pool. He wanted to be an Olympic swimmer, a singular focus that took him to the Olympic trials of 1988 and 1992, but not to the Olympic Games, though he did swim in the Pan American games of 1991.
Brian Hyndman’s Path To Electronic Trading Began Early
Brian Hyndman wanted to be a stockbroker growing up and that is what he became, starting out by working for Waterhouse Securities. But his career would be driven by the innovations and new technologies adopted by the markets and he would play a central part.
Alan van Griethuysen’s Dutch Path to Electronic Trading
Alan van Griethuysen wanted to be an officer in the Netherlands Royal Army, following in the footsteps of his father, who was a full colonel in the military police.
However, when he took a one-year leave while in school and worked in hotels in England, it started a path that led him to the options exchange in Amsterdam. That first job as a price reporter began a tenure of 32 years at the exchange, which saw many changes during van Griethuysen’s time.
Brendan Bradley’s Front Row Seat to the Path to Electronic Trading
Brendan Bradley had a front row seat for the major exchange battles between open outcry trading and electronic trading after starting at the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE) in the 1980s and then moving to DTB in the mid-1990s. While there he saw the German Bund contract battle that shocked the global derivatives trading world and then later witnessed the competition between Eurex and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) that he said ultimately led to the global leading exchange’s demise.
Bradley shared a historic overview of the development of markets in Europe as electronic trading developed for The Path to Electronic Trading from John Lothian News’ MarketsWiki Education video series.
Ryan McNally’s Path to Electronic Trading Was Routed Through TOPS
Ryan McNally started his career as a runner on the CME trading floor, but he quickly moved off the floor to use the tools that helped make the markets more efficient and able to handle greater volumes, creating his path to electronic trading.
McNally started in 1982 as a runner for Lind-Waldock and he has been an electronic trading pioneer since the day he first saw the Lind-Waldock Order Express system.
Joe Panfil’s Path to Electronic Trading Led Him to Building and Optimizing Globex
Former CME Infrastructure Executive Talks to John Lothian News When Joe Panfil joined the Chicago Mercantile Exchange staff in 1997 as an information technology professional, the CME was still a member-owned, club-like organization focused on open outcry trading....
Charles Farra – The Path to Electronic Trading Has Many Steps and Flights
For Charles Farra, there were many steps on the path to electronic trading that saw him start as a runner for Cargill Investor Services in 1981 and work his way up in the organization. He would serve the firm in Chicago, London and Tokyo during a time when new products and big markets led to incredible growth in the futures industry.
Meaghan Dugan Cooks Up a Stellar Path to Electronic Trading
NYSE executive Meaghan Dugan always worked in kitchens as a youth and had dreams of becoming a famous chef. She even earned a degree in culinary science. However, instead of donning a poofy cap for a career as a chef, she pursued a career in the markets at the Pacific Stock Exchange and wore a colorful jacket.
Tim Brennan Took the Leap to a New Frontier of Trading
Tim Brennan did not know what he wanted to do after graduating from a small liberal arts college with a degree in psychology. As with many other traders from this era, his mom had a friend who could get him a job as a runner at the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Alex Lamb Aways Landed Amid Opportunity In Early Years Of European Futures Trading – Part 2
Alex Lamb pursued one opportunity after another in the burgeoning financial futures markets in Europe starting in the mid-1970s, then later with technology providers to markets around the world that migrated to electronic formats. After he hired Gary Kemp as a programmer to connect GMI and DTB and then develop a front-end screen that turned into Trading Technologies’ desktop offering, Kemp returned the favor and hired Lamb at TT.
Alex Lamb Always Landed Amid Opportunity in Early Years of European Futures Trading – Part 1
Alex Lamb wanted to be a helicopter pilot in the U.K. Royal Airforce. He never had the chance, but he strategically landed opportunity after opportunity in the banking, trading and related technology businesses during his long and varied career.
Lamb even helped launch the firm Trading Technologies, outlining to then contractor Gary Kemp what he wanted for a new electronic trading screen that would allow brokers to enter orders for multiple accounts and be able to track them more efficiently. That was the genesis of the screen that became Trading Technologies’ desktop offering.
John Walls – The Path to Electronic Trading
John Walls is an executive with ADM Investor Services, but he started in the industry like many others of his generation as a trading floor messenger or runner. As a runner on the MidAmerica Commodity Exchange trading floor working for Shatkin Trading, Walls took advantage of nearly every opportunity he was presented with to learn all the different aspects of the markets and futures industry.
Robin Trott – The Path to Electronic Trading Part Two
In Part Two of Robin Trott – The Path to Electronic Trading, Trott talked about how block trade and call-around markets developed in Europe. Platforms were rushing to write to all of the individual European markets. There were a large number of them back then.
Robin Trott – The Path to Electronic Trading Part One
Robin Trott started out as an undergrad studying philosophy and politics, but it was the peak of the dotcom bust and he realized that wasn’t very practical. So he got a Master’s degree and got on the technology and operations graduate scheme at JP Morgan.
London Stock Exchange Starts £750 Million Share Buyback After ‘Strong First Half’
First Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff According to a U.S. Senate staffer for Senator Cynthia Lummis, every U.S. crypto exchange is being investigated by the SEC, including Binance, Forbes reported. There are more than 40 U.S. crypto exchanges. Paris...
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The Spread
The Spread: Options Discovery Episode 5; Complete Interview: Bob Whaley; How price volatility impacts the value of options
OPTIONS DISCOVERY: In episode 5 of Options Discovery, Alex Teng discusses options volatility, beginning with the basics of what is volatility?
A SPREAD INTERVIEW: Bob Whaley Discusses Options Volatility and Volatility Indexes With JLN’s Alex Teng
Term of The Week – How price volatility impacts the value of options – August 3, 2022
Volatility ETFs Aren’t Flashing Signs of Market Fear
Observations & Insight The FIA is seeking fintech startups for its annual fintech showcase, the Innovators Pavilion, at the Futures and Options Expo in Chicago November 14-15. All selected fintech startups will participate in a pitch competition and one will be...
