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.
Norm Singer – Open Outcry Traders History Project
Veteran trader and FCM executive Norm Singer was interviewed for the Open Outcry Traders History Project by John Lothian News.
Singer graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in psychology and was looking for a job. But he did not want to go back to school to get the education required to practice psychology.
Leo Melamed – Open Outcry Traders History Project Podcast
Leo Melamed was the first person to be interviewed for the Open Outcry Traders History Project video series by John Lothian News and MarketsWiki Education. Here is the first podcast we have made from the video series, starting with Leo’s story.
Gilbert Leistner – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part Three
In part three of his interview with John Lothian News for the Open Outcry Traders History Project, veteran trader and educator Gilbert Leistner says the only thing he saw in his years of trading that spontaneously stopped trading was the Challenger space shuttle blowing up. The floor went silent for 30 seconds and it was two minutes before he heard his first tasteless joke, he said.
Gilbert Leistner – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part Two
A Trader, a Teacher and a Builder of Markets All Over the World
Gilbert Leistner – Open Outcry Traders History Project Interview – Part One
Veteran Options Trader Shares Stories from New York to Chicago and Around the World
Gilbert Leistner is a good storyteller and he shared many stories during an interview for the Open Outcry Traders History Project that JLN has broken into three parts. The stories are about his difficulties with the feudal specialist system at the AMEX, coming to Chicago and trading on all three Chicago exchanges, dragons and princes, trading models that don’t work, and figuring out one that changed the way futures options trade.
John Vaile Saw the Potential of Financial Futures and Helped Make Them A Success
John Vaile had an aunt who invested in the stock market who bought Vaile some stock when he was 10 years old and that experience caused him to want to be a stockbroker. As a result, Vaile became a student of the market.
He went to a couple of different colleges in Illinois, then ended up in a program at Wharton for students who did not graduate from college.
Vaile was working for Morgan Stanley and living in Lake Geneva, WI, surrounded by friends in the futures markets and he wanted to get involved with what was happening. He said he badgered Morgan Stanley to get involved. They gave him permission, but he said he could see how long it would take for them to truly become involved and he did not have the patience for that.
Steve Beitler Built a Career on the Floor and a Big Business with Tennis Pal Tom Murphy
Steve Beitler has made his career on the CME trading floor, so JLN interviewed him for the Open Outcry Traders History Project. Beitler shared his story and at the end had some biting words about electronic trading and who benefits from it.
Veteran Trader Joe Corona Shares His Best Week Trading Ever
In Part Two of our Open Outcry Traders History Project Interview, Corona Tells of Recovering From Horrendous Tuesday Thrashing After Ten Point Bond Jump After Black Monday.
Veteran Trader Joe Corona Talks Freely In His Open Outcry Traders History Project Interview – Part One
Joe Corona’s Open Outcry Traders History Project story is a frank discussion of someone who stumbled into the markets as a temporary gig on his way to another career that never happened. Joe started a career in the markets after a friend of a friend helped him get a job as a runner at the Cboe in 1980 after he graduated from Northwestern University, and he never looked back.
Doug Engmann – Part Two – Open Outcry Traders History Project – John Lothian News
When Doug Engmann, chairman of Sage Brokerage Holdings, chose to expand his business to other exchanges, it was the late Jack Wing, Chairman Emeritus of Chicago Corporation, who helped him make the decision. Sage, unlike other clearing firms at the time, Engmann...
Doug Engmann – Open Outcry Traders History Project – Part One
A young Doug Engmann once had hopes of becoming a professional baseball player. Despite his continued love of the sport, his early career goals eventually shifted from the game of baseball to the game of investing.
Throughout his career, Engmann employed a persistence and penchant for leadership in the West Coast options industry that carried him through dramatic events that include a proposed San Francisco options floor merger, the stock market crash of 1987, and a closed exchange during a massive earthquake.
Tom Greene Celebrates 50 Years on Wall Street at NYSE
Head of NYSE Trading Floors Worked His Way from Runner to Head of Cotton Exchange and On to NYSE Trading Floor Head
Tom Greene wanted to be a civil servant, perhaps a fireman, when he was growing up. However, despite his best efforts, the jobs went to returning VietNam veterans. So he chose a vocation working with electricity, but that did not get him too far. Eventually, a cousin on Wall Street suggested he come down to Wall Street. And so began a career that has spawned 50 years, from his days as a runner on the New York Cotton Exchange to his role of Senior Vice President at the New York Stock Exchange today.
Kenny Polcari – Open Outcry Traders History Project Part 2
When Kenny Polcari started out at the New York Stock Exchange, “It was paper and pencil until the turn of the century,” he said.
The exchange started to introduce handheld computers in the late 1990s, but it was only in beta, not full blown yet. Everyone was preparing for Y2K. When Y2K happened and the technology didn’t fail, Polcari said, there was a push on the industry to move forward with modernization. They converted all the stocks over to decimals alphabetically, one at a time, over a six-month period, starting with the stocks named A to D.
Kenny Polcari – Open Outcry Traders History Project Part 1
When he was young, Kenny Polcari wanted to be in politics – preferably to eventually be president of the United States. But, he said, “Thank God none of that came true.”
When he was 19, he interned on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. He knew nothing about the business and was from Boston rather than New York. At first he thought, “Who wants to move to New York City in the summer as a 19-year-old kid?” He was going to go back to Cape Cod and be a lifeguard. But he thought about it and did his homework and said, “What’s the worst that can happen?”
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.
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