OPEN OUTCRY TRADERS HISTORY PROJECT
John J. Lothian & Company, Inc., MarketsWiki Education and John Lothian Productions are pleased to announce plans for a large scale video project to collect the history of the open outcry era and traders’ personal stories.
Additionally, John Lothian Productions plans to develop video documentaries about specific themes and subjects emerging from the collected personal histories.
The project is modeled on the Veterans History Project signed into law by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. In this case, rather than capturing the experiences of veterans of warfare and conflict, we are capturing the personal market experiences of those who participated in open outcry markets around the world. Traders from Chicago to London to Paris to Sydney to Singapore and beyond are welcome to submit videos.
Those traders interested are asked to fill out this Google Form or email us at OpenOutcry@johnlothian.com for more information.
Options Veterans Forge New Path With Tried-And-True Strategy
As its name suggests, Options Solutions is an options-centric asset-management firm that aims to increase the returns of investors’ portfolios with customized options strategies. JLN’s John Lothian and Suzanne Cosgrove recently interviewed the founders of the new enterprise, described by CEO Michael Brodsky as an early-stage, high-growth company. Team members are led by former CBOE Chairman and CEO Bill Brodsky, as well as Michael, his son, and options industry strategist Steve Sears.
Larry Abrams Part Two: Trader, “New York Jew” and Magician
Trader Larry Abrams Talks About His Career for the Open Outcry Traders HIstory Project
In part two of the JLN MarketsWiki Education Open Outcry Traders History Project interview with Larry Abrams, he talks about the emotionally draining market openings every day, his rather ugly experience in Kansas City opening a futures trading operation for Cooper Neff, options exercised out of the money, electronic trading, economic opportunity (and small worlds) and being a magician.
Bruce Williams – He Found Love of Open Outcry Trading Through Tennis – Part Two
Williams Spoke to John Lothian News for the Open Outcry Traders History Project Bruce Williams met Blair Hull when both were on a joint CBOT-CBOE committee for a new equity product where different versions would trade at the exchanges. Williams was in the Major Market...
Bruce Williams – He Found Love of Open Outcry Trading Through Tennis – Part One
Williams Spoke to John Lothian News for the Open Outcry Traders History Project Bruce Williams was a South Side Chicago street smart kid who found his way to the markets through tennis. As a youth, Williams had dreams of being a professional tennis player, and it was...
Yra Harris – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part 2
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 the old TV series “The Beverly Hillbillies” who struck it rich] shooting at the ground and hitting oil.” It was a booming business.
Yra Harris – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part 1
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 – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part 1
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.
Sheldon Cohen – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part Two
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 – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part Two
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.
Sheldon Cohen – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part One
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 – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part One
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.
Bradley Rotter – Open Outcry Traders History Project, Part Two
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 – Open Outcry Traders History Project, Part One
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.
Tom Sosnoff – Open Outcry Traders History Project
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...
Tom Ascher – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part Two
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...
Tom Ascher – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part One
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...
Scott Knudsen – The Path to Electronic Trading Led to a Best Execution Platform For Bitcoin
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...
Trading Technologies Announces Matching Program to Benefit GoFundMe Campaign for MarketsWiki Education Video Series and John Lothian News
As a pioneer of electronic trading, we at Trading Technologies value our industry’s rich history. We recognize the need to preserve our legacies and lessons to broadly educate and inspire those to come. This is what John Lothian News is doing through the Open Outcry...