Chicago Board of Trade

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT ), founded in 1848, is the world's oldest futures and options exchange and part of the CME Group. More than fifty different exchange transactions are handled by over 3,600 CBOT members through both trading floor and electronically. The volume on the stock exchange in 2003 reached a record high with 454 million contracts. On 12 July 2007 the merger of the CBOT with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for the new CME Group became effective.

History

Due to the concerns of U.S. dealers, it might lack buyers and sellers of commodities, they developed futures contracts, in particular for agricultural products such as grain, pork bellies, etc. The CBOT was a centralized trading place where buyers and sellers could meet each other, to their contracts negotiate and conclude. 1864 led the CBOT one of the first standardized exchange-traded futures contracts. In 1919, the Chicago Butter and Egg Board, a spin-off of the CBOT, reorganized to allow futures, and the name was changed to Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

On 19 October 2005, the IPO of 3,191,489 shares was carried out with CBOT to U.S. $ 54.00 per share. During the day of stock trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the price increased by 49 % to $ 80.50. 2007 merged the CBOT and CME to form CME Group.

Building

Since 1930, the Chicago Board of Trade is located at 141 West Jackson Boulevard in Chicago. The building was designed by architects Holabird & Root. With 184 meters height, it was the tallest building in Chicago until 1965, when the Richard J. Daley Center was built. The building is built in Art Deco style, with sculptures by Alvin Meyer; at the top there is a 9.5 m high statue of the goddess Ceres, in a nod to the history of the stock market as a commodity and grain market. The Ceres figure has no face, because the sculptor, John Storrs, the view, the 45 -storey building would be so much higher than any other structure in the area that no one would be able to look at the face at all. Today the building is (which is now recognized as a National Historic Landmark ) from other (sometimes even larger ) skyscrapers in the financial district surrounded the Chicago Loop.

The Pit

The Pit is a raised octagonal structure where floor trading takes place. On the trading floor of the CBOT are many such pits. The exterior steps to the top, and the interior steps down in such pits give them something of the appearance of an amphitheater, and allow hundreds of traders to see each other and hear during trading hours. The importance of the pit and trade there is emphasized by the use of a stylized pit as the logo of the CBOT. " The Pit " is also the title and theme of a classic novel from 1903 by Frank Norris