Those traders still in the pits or as we call them on the floor, "The Last of the Mohicans" saw this day coming. Their official pink slip has been served as the CME is closing most of the futures pits in July.
The Treasurys and S&P 500 futures pits will still be open, but this is an official bittersweet end to an amazing financial era spanning more than 160 years.
I was very fortunate as a young man to have been able to work in the pits in the 1990s. The screaming, swearing, fistfighting that was a daily undercurrent in the open outcry of pit trading was certainly not for the faint of heart.
Clearly, my 6-foot-4-inch and nearly 300 pound frame was an edge. That being said, I still wore 2-inch platform shoes to provide a perspective truly head and shoulders above other traders. Obtaining any edge was the key in the pit, no matter what shape or form. Pit traders were not just brawn however, there were some serious brains too.
