Our financial system is crumbling this week.

[GeddyWrox]

Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

[Jocephus]

i saw a guy do that in cirque du soleil

[pioneer98]

Something economists thought was impossible is happening in Europe
http://www.vox.com/2015/2/5/7981461/neg ... tes-europe

Something really weird is happening in Europe. Interest rates on a range of debt — mostly government bonds from countries like Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany but also corporate bonds from Nestlé and, briefly, Shell — have gone negative. And not just negative in fancy inflation-adjusted terms like US government debt. It's just negative. As in you give the owner of a Nestlé bond 100 euros, and four years later Nestlé gives you back less than that.

[IMADreamer]

What the hell? Why would anyone get a bond then?

[pioneer98]

What the hell? Why would anyone get a bond then?

I'll try to briefly summarize what it said. In a couple countries with stable economies but that are not on the Euro, it could be a currency play...The value of the bond might be negative but you are gambling that their currency will rise faster than that relative to your own. There is another weird dynamic when the EU did their quantitative easing last month that he explains. But basically people who have gobs of money could store it under their mattress but that's not safe, so they go ahead and still buy bonds. Some mutual funds need to have a certain amount of bonds in their mix, so they buy them anyway. Finally some banks get charged a fee for storing excess reserves, so it costs them less to buy bonds with a negative interest rate than to pay the fee to not buy anything.

[mikechamp]

Did anyone else note that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced they are closing their trading pit? It's all computers now.

[Michael]

Did anyone else note that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced they are closing their trading pit? It's all computers now.

Small clarification - the options pits are staying open.

Something economists thought was impossible is happening in Europe
http://www.vox.com/2015/2/5/7981461/neg ... tes-europe

Something really weird is happening in Europe. Interest rates on a range of debt — mostly government bonds from countries like Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany but also corporate bonds from Nestlé and, briefly, Shell — have gone negative. And not just negative in fancy inflation-adjusted terms like US government debt. It's just negative. As in you give the owner of a Nestlé bond 100 euros, and four years later Nestlé gives you back less than that.

Folks, this is really incredible.

[mikechamp]

Did anyone else note that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced they are closing their trading pit? It's all computers now.

Small clarification - the options pits are staying open.

Thanks for that, Michael.

But is it just a matter of time before those pits close, too?

[Arthur Dent]

What kinds of trades actually get executed in a pit these days, anyway?

[Michael]

Did anyone else note that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced they are closing their trading pit? It's all computers now.

Small clarification - the options pits are staying open.

Thanks for that, Michael.

But is it just a matter of time before those pits close, too?

Yes, long term CME Group wants to get of of open outcry.

What kinds of trades actually get executed in a pit these days, anyway?

Same as the electronic contracts. That said, certain types of options trades are harder to perform electrically, which is why some of those pits are still active. Regardless, options volume continues to migrate to the electronic platform. It's only a matter of time.