| Chicago Mercantile Exchange |
Article Index for Chicago |
Limousines in Chicago |
Website Links For Chicago |
Information AboutChicago Mercantile Exchange |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CHICAGO MERCANTILE EXCHANGE | |
| 1898 establishments | |
| commodity exchanges | |
| self-regulatory organizations | |
| chicago, illinois | |
| organizations based in chicago | |
|
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME or, simply, Merc) ( in the United States . The CME was founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter And Egg Board . Originally, the exchange was a not-for-profit organization. The exchange Demutualized in November 2000 , and Went Public in December 2002 , becoming the first US exchange to do so. CME has four major product areas: short term Interest Rates , Stock Market Indexes , Foreign Exchange , and Commodities . CME has the largest Option s and Futures Contract s open interest (number of contracts outstanding) of any futures exchange in the world, which indicates a very high Liquidity . This is vital to the success of any stock or futures exchange. TRADING METHODS Trading is conducted in two methods; an Open Outcry format and the CME Globex® electronic trading platform. Open Outcry The open outcry method consists of floor traders standing in a trading pit to call out orders, prices, and quantities of a particular commodity. Different colored jackets are worn by the traders to indicate their function on the floor (traders, runners, CME employees, etc.). In addition, complex hand signals are used. These hand signals were first used in the 1970s. The pits are areas of the floor that are lowered to facilitate communication, sort of like a miniature Amphitheater . The pits can be raised and lowered depending on trading volume. To an onlooker, the open outcry system can look chaotic and confusing, but in reality the system is a tried and true method of accurate and efficient trading. CME Globex® Today the CME Globex trading system operates at the heart of CME. It was introduced in 1992 as the first global electronic trading platform for Futures Contract s. This fully electronic trading system allows market participants to trade from booths at the exchange or while sitting in a home or office thousands of miles away. On 19 October 2004 , the one billionth (1,000,000,000) transaction was recorded. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|