No… Not all Floor Traders Are Losers

September 25, 2013 Attain Capital 4 Comments  Like
Managed Futures

We appreciated FuturesMag giving us a shout out last month for being the impetus behind  their best trading movie of all time post, which followed our top trading movies post last year. And it turns out, their movie post was a bit of a plug for the ‘online premiere’ of FLOORED through FuturesMag’s site. FLOORED is a documentary on, you guessed it, the trading floors – originally released in theaters in 2010 (funny, I don’t recall seeing it at the local AMC)

FLOOREDThe opening words on a black screen interspersed with quick clips of furious trading action are as follows:

For over 150 years, the Chicago trading floors have been home to the most primal method of buying and selling.

In 1997, 10,000 people traded on the floors…today, about 10% remain.

Later that year, computer trading emerged.

Sure sounded interesting, seeing as how we’re movie buffs and partners Walter Gallwas and Jeff Malec cut their teeth on Chicago’s famed trading floors (pits). So we grabbed a bag of popcorn and sat down to enjoy what we hoped would be a sophisticated look at how former floor traders were supplanted by computers in the world’s derivative markets. Unfortunately, that was an hour of our lives we’ll never get back!

The documentary is somewhere between boring and depressing, but with none of the interesting parts which might come with being depressing. Beyond the first opening scenes with a lot of footage of the CME’s S&P 500 pit, and a great old fashioned film reel on how futures work at the seven minute mark – the filmmaker looks as if his goal was to find the biggest losers he could find on the trading floor and show their numerous human flaws.

There’s the guy who has his bare feet propped up on a pool table chugging wine during his interview, in which he drunkenly slurs so badly they have to use captions on the screen so you know what is being said. There’s the guy who they decide to interview while he’s playing golf (in Chicago, in the winter, in the snow – likely because it is free). Then there’s our favorite – the guy who thinks computers are devious, and everyone using them is ‘cheating on the computer”. When pressed by his friend who says the computer is neutral, it has no soul, no conscious – he disagrees, saying they are ‘evil’.

So, if you want to see some broken men complaining about computers – it’s worth watching. If that sounds like torture, take a pass. We know firsthand that most former floor traders are nothing like what was depicted in the film. We just wish it had aimed a little higher. We wish they chose to highlight the positive stories of those who successfully moved off the trading floor and are continuing to run businesses in the futures industry. We wish they talked of how the CME is a technology leader and one of the most respected companies in the world. We wish they had talked about how the move to electronic trading has helped the end investors.

But mostly, we wish we had that hour of our lives back.

4 comments

  1. Davis Jones
    September 27, 2013

    “The CME is one of the most respected companies in the world.” What a joke!

  4. James
    December 13, 2013

    “We wish they talked of how the CME is a technology leader and one of the most respected companies in the world. We wish they had talked about how the move to electronic trading has helped the end investors.” — you should make that move, wouldn’t be boring at all.

Write a Comment

Disclaimer
The performance data displayed herein is compiled from various sources, including BarclayHedge, and reports directly from the advisors. These performance figures should not be relied on independent of the individual advisor's disclosure document, which has important information regarding the method of calculation used, whether or not the performance includes proprietary results, and other important footnotes on the advisor's track record.

The programs listed here are a sub-set of the full list of programs able to be accessed by subscribing to the database and reflect programs we currently work with and/or are more familiar with.

Benchmark index performance is for the constituents of that index only, and does not represent the entire universe of possible investments within that asset class. And further, that there can be limitations and biases to indices such as survivorship, self reporting, and instant history. Individuals cannot invest in the index itself, and actual rates of return may be significantly different and more volatile than those of the index.

Managed futures accounts can subject to substantial charges for management and advisory fees. The numbers within this website include all such fees, but it may be necessary for those accounts that are subject to these charges to make substantial trading profits in the future to avoid depletion or exhaustion of their assets.

Investors interested in investing with a managed futures program (excepting those programs which are offered exclusively to qualified eligible persons as that term is defined by CFTC regulation 4.7) will be required to receive and sign off on a disclosure document in compliance with certain CFT rules The disclosure documents contains a complete description of the principal risk factors and each fee to be charged to your account by the CTA, as well as the composite performance of accounts under the CTA's management over at least the most recent five years. Investor interested in investing in any of the programs on this website are urged to carefully read these disclosure documents, including, but not limited to the performance information, before investing in any such programs.

Those investors who are qualified eligible persons as that term is defined by CFTC regulation 4.7 and interested in investing in a program exempt from having to provide a disclosure document and considered by the regulations to be sophisticated enough to understand the risks and be able to interpret the accuracy and completeness of any performance information on their own.

RCM receives a portion of the commodity brokerage commissions you pay in connection with your futures trading and/or a portion of the interest income (if any) earned on an account's assets. The listed manager may also pay RCM a portion of the fees they receive from accounts introduced to them by RCM.

Limitations on RCM Quintile + Star Rankings

The Quintile Rankings and RCM Star Rankings shown here are provided for informational purposes only. RCM does not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this information. The ranking methodology is proprietary and the results have not been audited or verified by an independent third party. Some CTAs may employ trading programs or strategies that are riskier than others. CTAs may manage customer accounts differently than their model results shown or make different trades in actual customer accounts versus their own accounts. Different CTAs are subject to different market conditions and risks that can significantly impact actual results. RCM and its affiliates receive compensation from some of the rated CTAs. Investors should perform their own due diligence before investing with any CTA. This ranking information should not be the sole basis for any investment decision.

See the full terms of use and risk disclaimer here.

Disclaimer
The performance data displayed herein is compiled from various sources, including BarclayHedge, and reports directly from the advisors. These performance figures should not be relied on independent of the individual advisor's disclosure document, which has important information regarding the method of calculation used, whether or not the performance includes proprietary results, and other important footnotes on the advisor's track record.

The programs listed here are a sub-set of the full list of programs able to be accessed by subscribing to the database and reflect programs we currently work with and/or are more familiar with.

Benchmark index performance is for the constituents of that index only, and does not represent the entire universe of possible investments within that asset class. And further, that there can be limitations and biases to indices such as survivorship, self reporting, and instant history. Individuals cannot invest in the index itself, and actual rates of return may be significantly different and more volatile than those of the index.

Managed futures accounts can subject to substantial charges for management and advisory fees. The numbers within this website include all such fees, but it may be necessary for those accounts that are subject to these charges to make substantial trading profits in the future to avoid depletion or exhaustion of their assets.

Investors interested in investing with a managed futures program (excepting those programs which are offered exclusively to qualified eligible persons as that term is defined by CFTC regulation 4.7) will be required to receive and sign off on a disclosure document in compliance with certain CFT rules The disclosure documents contains a complete description of the principal risk factors and each fee to be charged to your account by the CTA, as well as the composite performance of accounts under the CTA's management over at least the most recent five years. Investor interested in investing in any of the programs on this website are urged to carefully read these disclosure documents, including, but not limited to the performance information, before investing in any such programs.

Those investors who are qualified eligible persons as that term is defined by CFTC regulation 4.7 and interested in investing in a program exempt from having to provide a disclosure document and considered by the regulations to be sophisticated enough to understand the risks and be able to interpret the accuracy and completeness of any performance information on their own.

RCM receives a portion of the commodity brokerage commissions you pay in connection with your futures trading and/or a portion of the interest income (if any) earned on an account's assets. The listed manager may also pay RCM a portion of the fees they receive from accounts introduced to them by RCM.

Limitations on RCM Quintile + Star Rankings

The Quintile Rankings and RCM Star Rankings shown here are provided for informational purposes only. RCM does not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this information. The ranking methodology is proprietary and the results have not been audited or verified by an independent third party. Some CTAs may employ trading programs or strategies that are riskier than others. CTAs may manage customer accounts differently than their model results shown or make different trades in actual customer accounts versus their own accounts. Different CTAs are subject to different market conditions and risks that can significantly impact actual results. RCM and its affiliates receive compensation from some of the rated CTAs. Investors should perform their own due diligence before investing with any CTA. This ranking information should not be the sole basis for any investment decision.

See the full terms of use and risk disclaimer here.

logo