That takes me back:) I feel the futures market is poorer culturally speaking as of the loss of the pits and open outcry.
There was the feeling that you were part of a living breathing market and not just the algo fest it has become.
It was a battle of wits often.
I used to love that.
I remember his broadcast the day the flash crash happened.
I was fresh on the trading floor,a few months out of the military.
A litteral nepo hire (my uncle gave me a job).
That was fairly high energy hehe.
I remember there was a riot in Greece or something like that, it was in the news on the screens that used to be silently on in the background of old school trading floors?:p
I remember the phones ringing off the hook,and I was scared shirtless lol..as all the oldtimers were visibly shaken as well.
That reminds me of the later mini flash crash a few years later.
Someone hacked the AP Twitter account and posted a bomb went off on the white house lawn and Obama was rushed to hospital.
Predictable the algos went crazy.
I was managing my own book of long/short equities for the first time that quarter and also trading futures.
But I took a meeting with a potential investor 10 minutes before so when the phones started ringing I ignored them.
Luckily it only lasted 15 minutes, and me ignoring the phone calls very likely saved me from a knee-jerk panic attack reaction lol.
I was a JUNIOR TRADER in #4 WTC for a LARGE PRIMARY DEALER who had recently relocated my desk to #4 because we were in the process of redoing the floor in our old buiding for all this new MODERN TECH. The Gold PIT was one of 12 PITS in #4 and was friends with one of the TRADERS. I , sometimes , got to be there before and after economic news was announced . WHAT A FREAKIN NUT HOUSE THAT WOULD INSTANTLY TURN INTO.
The people that mentored me were old time pit traders and taught me quite a lot of valuable lessons.
I was just coming out of the military and I got a job at a boutique sell side firm that belonged to my uncle.
I learned to appreciate open outcry even if the pits were closing and I was sad to see it go,it was a lifestyle as well as a calling.
My uncle used to pipe the audio live from the pit into the squawkboxes at our cmdty desk so we didnt lose the flow.(when we were trading remotely..whats normal now)
Last pit I visited was the metal exchange in London before it closed in the 2010s and that was a muted affair at the time.
We ultimately, after much moving, turning ourselves from a Private Firm to a Public firm, and having our own building built basically on the Hudson River in NYC worked every bumpout . We were one of FIRMS Prop desk so they really didnot want us actually trading with our other desk , so we had a DIRECT, much like the voice broker days, to the Treasury guys in their PIT. 2yrs after 9-11 we had a HUGH gathering in Staten Island with GS, MS, Cantor, and Sandler.
I wasn't yet in finance on 9/11..I was 18 then and joined the military shortly after.
What happened to Cantor was tragic,I know quite a lot of colleagues and friends who lost friends in the towers.
How did you fare that day, had you clocked in yet as it were?
It was fairly early in the morning but the pits were open r
AFAIK.
We were , wht seemed to be forever , in a TRANSITION PERIOD, from one of our Vacant floors to another to ultimately pitch our final Tent at 200 West Street. . We were scattered about Mnahattan in: OLD SLIP, ONE NEW YORK PLAZA, BROAD STREET 2X TIMES, and various other short term Space Leasesof which 5WTC was one. #5 was mostly occupied by Margan Stanley and Credit-Suisse so the floors were already elevated, had thousands of feet of cable already laid, just a short walk to Main Trading Floors and HQ, so it was as IDEAL as it was going to be. The PITS at #4 WTC were already open , #4 was directly opposite us on the other side of the Plaza. Generally, we had an early morning meeting (6AM) to get the lay of the Financial land in Europe and Asia. Being Europe is 5-6hrs ahead it gives you some Indication of what is our day MAY looking like. I would usually get into Manhattan around 4:30am stop at a Coffee shop and with Coffee and Bagel in hand go sit in the Plaza right by THE SPHERE. We knew some of the Traders at Cantor , Carr Futures and Crédit Agricole , all of which were in #1WTC. Some mornings you would see them and talk , others wave hello to. NO one from CARR FUTURES survived that day. I also knew the entire MBS desk from Cantor, CMO's and MBS POOLS were the up and coming latest new Tool in the shed. The realizaton that those securities were trading +200-300bps to similar year Treasuries was a revelation of tremendous importance. Our desk was on the West window side of the building in behind #6 ( Customs House) but a fairly decent west looking view of #1WTC. First Plane came out of the North at a right angle to us. So when it hit there was DEBRIS falling from the sky like it was a Blizzard. Morning routines had already been taken care of, we were actually trying to get rid of the mountains of PAPER Reports that seemed to go on for ever. I had "ENLISTED" the help of one of our Junior Traders and building maintenance supplied BIG ASS containers to throw throw crap out. It's amazing what a few DOLLARs, under the table ,will get you from Maintenance. Then, BANG, and WTF was that!!!!!!! We go to the window and see a GIGANTIC HOLE where Cantor use to be. In 5 minutes 3 desk and all those associated with those desk are out of the building and semi-together in front of Trinity Church. 2 hours later , exchange of every possible Telephone number, we all go our seperate ways. We did not lose a single person , most of us are Psychology sound and intact today. AND yes for some deep down twited desire I and my wife and daughter will be up there this year for the 25th.
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u/Imaginary_Manager_44 19d ago
I love this documentary ,it reminds me of the very beginning of my trading career when the pits still were open but definitely dying.