Options on Commodities Floor Traders

Good luck getting a seat at the NYMEX and the contract size is huge, you have to put up some size cash to be a MM there. Also it’s good old pure broker allocation so plan on months of getting shut out and shit trading through your bid and offer. You know how it is, it’s all about relationships and I know several locals there it’s not an easy pit to break into.

I don’t even know what a seat lease looks like there these days but I am guessing your monthly nut before you make dime one is pushing 20k.
 
The NYMEX option pits were great. It was just time for me to move on as I saw the coming of electronic trading. Instead of paying my $8k/month seat lease, I could trade off the screens for practically free and concentrate on all the options markets, not just the energies.

NYMEX seat leases were pushing $22k/mo before the CME bought them out. Now I think they're $2 - $3k/month. Could be worth it now for anyone looking to break in.

It is true that it is hard to break into at first as it is a very close-knit community down there. The same guys have been there since those pits opened in the early-mid 80s. There's definitely a hierarchy that you have to overcome.

I still use my colleagues in the pit to execute my option orders as I have direct phone lines to them. Actually we communicate via instant messenger now instead of phone. Technology at its best.

Have fun!
 
SYD697............
Please post a link to your book. Sound interesting.
I was a local on the SFE in Australia while it was open outcry. Foolishly I thought that the option locals were rocket scientists/geeks. Now its all electronic. I consider that a lost opportunity for my trading.
Regards
Stuart
 
http://www.amazon.com/Get-Rich-Opti...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240498561&sr=8-1

Here's a link to my book. The content is built upon my years as an options trader on the NYMEX trading floor and off. It mostly centers around option-selling strategies as that is what has worked the best for me.

I also gives the basics of options and how they could be most beneficial to mainstream public participants. Should be a tip or two in here for all levels of traders.

2nd edition is due out in September.

Good trading everyone!
 
Quote from syd697:

http://www.amazon.com/Get-Rich-Opti...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240498561&sr=8-1

Here's a link to my book. The content is built upon my years as an options trader on the NYMEX trading floor and off. It mostly centers around option-selling strategies as that is what has worked the best for me.

I also gives the basics of options and how they could be most beneficial to mainstream public participants. Should be a tip or two in here for all levels of traders.

2nd edition is due out in September.

Good trading everyone!
More...

Great book. I read it when I was still very, very new to the game. It was a practical read, versus the theory you get with the Natenburg and McMillan books, and thus offset those texts nicely.

What's updated in the second edition?
 
...once upon a time I had a rented badge of options at the board of trade,
basically they scalp or swing trade spreads or outright options, there are a few who have money sell options naked but the margin is quite large for that and while you might keep making money steadily and book profits steadily - one day your business is no more. But in my opinion options belong to the screen and floor trading is obscolete.
Just my 2 cents..
Quote from jfmiii:

Hey all,
I've worked at the CBOT, CME, and NYMEX during college and currently trade STIR products for an institution but I've always wanted to learn how MMs trade in the options pit. I have a decent understanding of options but I'm curious how these guys make their money. Are they simply reading off the tablet or sheets and making a bid/offer and then delta hedging as the mkt moves? If they are always delta heding what happens if they get a hit for a 100 lot and the futures are only 10x10? I'd appreciate any insight. I'm specifically interested in what the guys trading corn, soybeans, bonds, eurodollars, and S&Ps are doing if anyone has worked in those option pits.
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Quote from loza:

...once upon a time I had a rented badge of options at the board of trade,
basically they scalp or swing trade spreads or outright options, there are a few who have money sell options naked but the margin is quite large for that and while you might keep making money steadily and book profits steadily - one day your business is no more. But in my opinion options belong to the screen and floor trading is obscolete.
Just my 2 cents..
More...

loza, would love to hear more about your time down there...
 
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