any summer internships on LIffe floor?

[BARLI]

I was wondering if anyone of you know if there's some internship (payed even better) on the trading floor of LIFFE (Cocoa, Coffee etc)

 

[TWI]

Liffe is now electronic and screen traded, there is no floor.

 

[Directional]

I think LME is the only open outcry floor left in the UK?

 

[BARLI]

sorry I meant LME then, those Cocoa and Coffee futures are pit traded in London

 

[ns1000]

sorry I meant LME then, those Cocoa and Coffee futures are pit traded in London

LME trades metals only. You're about six years too late for LIFFE pits. I'm afraid you'll struggle to find any 'internship' in a trading company. Have you though about trying for one at a brokerage - it would give you a decent knowledge of the market structure.

 

[BARLI]

NS thank you, I am not UK citizen, but London, Chicago and NYC are places where pits still exist. any other places in the world where physical floor still exist? I cant go to NYC or Chicago, so London looks like an option. Does Brent Crude trades in pit at IPE?

 

[BARLI]

I found a link here:
https://www.theice.com/open_participation.jhtml

 

[Directional]

the ICE closed its floor in April last year - all oil futures and OTC trading at ICE is now done electronically, as are the cocoa and coffee futures at LIFFE.

LME, the metals exchange, is the only open outcry still left in europe: http://www.lme.com/

I think you're chasing a dead duck if you're interested in pursuing floor trading - the US exchanges may be resisting going all electronic, but it will happen eventually - I think we'll see an acceleration of the demise of the floor when NYMEX take their oil contracts onto Globex this summer.

Why waste time learning about open outcry when there may only be a year or two left for it? wouldnt you be better learning about the markets from the screen perspective?

 

[BARLI]

Arbitrageur, you making a good point..I didn't hear anything about NYMEX giving their Oil contracts business to Globex, could you provide the link? I simply would like to get started in the futures trading as a trader for a firm ( or in worst case a broker), there's lots of business going on on the floor with tens of thousands contracts traded so it seems like a good spot to start

 

[Directional]

the nymex link is here: http://www.nymex.com/press_releas.aspx?id=pr20060503b

you mentioned that theres lots of business on the floor - there is still *some* business left on the floor, but the vast majority of it is now on the screen.

Take the S&P for example, in the pit it will seldom trade more than 30-40,000 contracts a day, whereas on the screen will trade 800,000-1.2m+ contracts

 

[Directional]

From the cme website - total daily futures volume for Friday 5th May:

CME Equity Futures (S&P500 etc)
Globex 1,608,859
Pit 47,882

CME Interest Rate Futures
Globex 1,796,816
Pit 228,117

 

[BARLI]

as I understood what was on that link (http://www.nymex.com/press_releas.aspx?id=pr20060503b) is that they will offer its energy mini products on Globex to trade it electronically and increase the volume, nothing was said about shutting down the pit trading(my assumption may be wrong of course)

 

[Directional]

basically since ICE launched a competing all electronic WTI contract, NYMEX has been losing volume for their flagship WTI contract hand over fist.

In response, NYMEX are putting all of their full size oil contracts onto Globex to trade electronically, side-by-side with the pit. They arent closing the pit, but its bound to happen when the screen goes against the floor - look at what happened with LIFFE, Eurex, ICE etc.

"Outsourcing the electronic trading of our energy futures contracts to CME will ensure that we continue to meet the needs of our customers while providing additional liquidity to our open outcry trading platform," said Mitchell Steinhause, Chairman of NYMEX.

bit more info here: http://www.nymex.com/press_releas.aspx?id=pr20060406a

 

[BARLI]

what about LME floor?

 

[Directional]

what about it?

 

[BARLI]

it looks like its surviving... so guys any thougts how a non uk citizen can start in futures business in London?

 

[ns1000]

it looks like its surviving... so guys any thougts how a non uk citizen can start in futures business in London?

I really think your head is in the clouds.

For various reasons unique to the LME it is surviving, but metals trading makes up a fraction of the derivatives volume worldwide.

You're highly unlikely to find a firm which has any form of trading internship. Regulatory requirements mean it's just not worth employing someone for a few weeks whether paid or not. Being realistic, what you would contribute is far less than the cost.

If you're serious about getting into futures trading, you're probably better off looking for some temp work in a broker's operation department. It might not do much for your vanity, but will teach you a little about how brokerages work. If you ever get an interview for a trading job, knowing the difference between Robusta and Arabica coffee will show you've done some research, and are interested. Talking in vague terms about defunct pits will suggest the opposite.

 

[BARLI]

NS, thanks for the suggestion! Any clue where to start looking for temporary work in a broker's operation department? Any chances for non UK citizen to get a job? Do they need Series 3 license?

 

[Directional]

Series 3 is futures broker license for NFA membership in the US, I dont think you'd need that here, though you would probably need some kind of registration with the FSA, not sure what though.

 

[oatman]

Try Man
http://www.edfman.com/index2.html
http://www.mandirect.co.uk/home/default.cfm
There used to be Israelis in top management and trading. It might get you a foot in the door. Can't help with names etc., it's a long time since I knew anyone there.