www.chicagotribune.com/technology/c...1&ctrack=1&cset=true&coll=chi-techtopheds-hed
a few tidbits excerpted below
-The electronic age has finally caught up with the city's flesh and blood open-outcry markets, forcing thousands of traders to adapt to "the screen," as they call it, or find another line of work-
-"It's a bit of Americana, a bit of history, and when it's gone, it's gone," said J. Allen Smith, a documentary filmmaker whose coming picture, "Floored," will profile displaced traders.-
- Baldwin never knows if Goldman Sachs or some other giant might be preparing to squash him, so he barely trades at all. Clicking the mouse too often is asking for trouble, and bouncing back from losses has gotten more difficult, he said. The key is to very seldom lose, which might sound obvious but represents a retreat from his insatiable appetite for risk in the pit. "The way to be successful is to be bored," he said of screen trading. "If you're high-strung and you need action, you do things you shouldn't do."-
-To a degree, women have had more success on computers than on the trading floors, she noted, in part because size and strength play no role, while patience and sticking to a plan get rewarded. "Online, a lot more women are involved.-
-Success can come for old-timers, too. Board of Trade veteran Ray Cahnman trades far more now than he ever did in his decades at the exchange, playing many markets at once, thanks to the efficiency of computers, he said. His TransMarket Group has trading offices across the world. "There is more opportunity on the screen than there ever was on the floor," said Cahnman. "The golden age of trading, it's right now."-
No question, the hottest opportunities for budding traders these days come from hedge funds and other firms trading for their own accounts through complex mathematical models. But many avoid hiring refugees from open outcry. "They look for blank slates with math skills,""MBAs, not athletes-
a few tidbits excerpted below
-The electronic age has finally caught up with the city's flesh and blood open-outcry markets, forcing thousands of traders to adapt to "the screen," as they call it, or find another line of work-
-"It's a bit of Americana, a bit of history, and when it's gone, it's gone," said J. Allen Smith, a documentary filmmaker whose coming picture, "Floored," will profile displaced traders.-
- Baldwin never knows if Goldman Sachs or some other giant might be preparing to squash him, so he barely trades at all. Clicking the mouse too often is asking for trouble, and bouncing back from losses has gotten more difficult, he said. The key is to very seldom lose, which might sound obvious but represents a retreat from his insatiable appetite for risk in the pit. "The way to be successful is to be bored," he said of screen trading. "If you're high-strung and you need action, you do things you shouldn't do."-
-To a degree, women have had more success on computers than on the trading floors, she noted, in part because size and strength play no role, while patience and sticking to a plan get rewarded. "Online, a lot more women are involved.-
-Success can come for old-timers, too. Board of Trade veteran Ray Cahnman trades far more now than he ever did in his decades at the exchange, playing many markets at once, thanks to the efficiency of computers, he said. His TransMarket Group has trading offices across the world. "There is more opportunity on the screen than there ever was on the floor," said Cahnman. "The golden age of trading, it's right now."-
No question, the hottest opportunities for budding traders these days come from hedge funds and other firms trading for their own accounts through complex mathematical models. But many avoid hiring refugees from open outcry. "They look for blank slates with math skills,""MBAs, not athletes-
