Friday was a historic day for the Chicago Merc, as it was the last day of trading at the old exchange. The new floor opens Monday, and CME Group Chairman Terry Duffy said the world’s largest derivatives exchange will continue to be the trading capital of the world.
The exchange trade has been red hot for the past couple years, as industry consolidation coupled with higher volumes and increased efficiency in electronic trading has led these stocks higher almost across the board.
Duffy, a Chicago native, said CME’s growth remains strong, with an annual growth rate of 27%, and the acquisitions story isn’t drying up either. Case in point: CME just did deals with exchanges in Brazil and South Korea.
“We’re competing with the world today,” he said. Investors shouldn’t view the CME as just a U.S. exchange – the business of trading has gone global.
Pete Najarian and Guy Adami are big believers in CME’s part of the global exchange story. Pete sees “nothing but upside” for CME and Guy calls himself a “huge buyer” of the stock.