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-
Yeah the writing was always on the wall. But things have really started to accelerate recently, look at all the NYBOT Softs that have recently gone electronic with decent liquidity. And the state of the NYSE. The only surprising thing is how long it has taken, the technology was all there atleast 10 years ago. Perhaps its been due to the exchanges going public. Less resistance from members.
It's a sad day and a piece of good ol' Americana disappearing into utter oblivion and being reduced to fine particles of dust for the dust mites to breed upon... oh did I mention it sucks? how are we to make any money now? screw efficiency...lets make anomolies...
MONEY. This is exactly what a Quant looks for in a trader. You want raw talent and Zero Sum Game experience... But cannot waste your time "deprogramming" some dude with erroneous or out-dated beliefs.
the real problem is floor traders never traded. most of them are just front running orders and ripping off customers. unless they had a guarenteed out they dont like it. now on the screen all they see is a two way price with no direction to move on because they cant see it they are all wingeing. well welcome to to reality boys.
side by side trading works really well ie.grain/livestock.dont know about softs since i dont have access yet. if the funds want to run everything on models and computers and remove people from the equation,go for it. all you have to do is watch silver,grains,livetock on their globex/ecbot platforms and see how badly the robots can screw up