CME

CME - Chicago Mercantile Exchange

About the Chicago Mercantile Exchange :

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is the United States. largest futures exchange, as well as the second largest in the world. It trades futures and options on interest rates, stock indexes, foreign currencies, and agricultural commodities. In 2004, the exchange traded 805.3 million contracts with a value of $463.4 trillion.

The CME is one of the few exchanges that still utilize the open outcry system of trading. Under this system, the traders all gather on the trading floor and call out their bids and offers. Different colored jackets are used to distinguish the various participants, and hand signals are also often used, as the shouting can make it hard to hear. The exchange has two main trading floors, one for the foreign currency and interest rate derivatives and another for the agricultural commodities and stock index derivatives. The CME also utilizes electronic trading, using GLOBEX2. This system allows for 24 hour trading while also allowing traders who are not physically located on the Chicago trading floor to participate

CME - History of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange :

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange began in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board, so named because it only traded contracts in butter and eggs. In 1919 it became known as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The exchange greatly expanded its product line over the years, beginning with the introduction of frozen pork belly futures in 1961. In 1964, the exchange began trading live cattle futures, in 1972 it issued the first futures on foreign currencies, and in 1982 stock index futures were added to its product list.
In 1992, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange introduced GLOBEX for electronic trading. This system did not replace the traditional open outcry system, but was used alongside it in order to enhance trading efficiency and extend trading hours. On its first trading day, 2,063 futures were traded on this system. GLOBEX was improved upon in 1998, creating GLOBEX2 which is still in use today. It now trades approximately half of the exchange.s contracts each day.

In 2000, the CME demutualized, becoming a for-profit organization and in 2001 it officially became the largest futures exchange in the U.S. In 2002, the CME became the first exchange in the United States to issue shares, listing on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol CME.