As individuals in the finance world, we are relentless and determined. This proved to be true for the weekend of October 20-23. The officers of the Finance Club, including myself, used time management and lots of persuasion to get the Chicago Trip approved for 2011. The trip proposal included costs for the charter bus, the hotel fees, and the description of what the whole plan focused on, our tour through the financial district.
Our journey started in the parking lot of the Olmsted building where we met our bus driver, Joe. We spent the next 11 hours on that bus. We were all so excited for Chicago; the sleepless night barely phased us. Once we had arrived at the Club Quarters hotel located in the Chicago Loop, we anxiously readied ourselves for what the day had in store for us.
Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) was first on our itinerary. As Dr. Cusatis and myself led the group of the other 19 students down a few wrong turns, we made it. After passing through security and riding the elevators up seven stories, we had a bird’s eye view of the trading floor. Most of trading in the technological savvy world that we live in is done electronically. But before the high speed of the internet, computers, etc. trading was done through open outcry. Just as the name suggest, it was professionals in the exchange yelling out orders and using hand signals, which were first used in the 1970’s, to complete transactions. The CBOE still uses this form of trading in certain parts of their operation. We were fortunate enough to see this up close and personal as our tour guide, Russell, led us through the floor. It was amazing to see some of the best in the business in action.
Our journey then took us to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) across the street, which had merged with CBOE in July 2007. CME is a financial and commodity derivative exchange and are based out of Chicago. Here we were able to see two different levels of open outcry trading take place, though only through the visitors view from above. The CME’s trading floors were much larger and had more activity than we had previously seen at CBOE. On the trading floor of CME you can distinguish one company from another and one job position from another by the color of their jacket. For example, the corporation Cusatis&Crew who are trading in the pit might wear bright pink jackets to differentiate themselves from corporation Dr. T Traders who wear sunshine yellow.
- Two students, including Evelyn Lenhart (right), VP of the Honors Program Club, on the Trading Floor in Chicago!
The group then had an hour or so for lunch. Some of us decided to enjoy our meal at the Elephant & Castle which connected to our hotel. Morningstar was next. We were greeted by Melissa and Jessica who would be educating us on the ways of Morningstar for the next 45 minutes and then finishing with a tour of the building. Morningstar is a leading provider of data and information within the financial industry in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. As students of Penn State Harrisburg we have complete access to Morningstar Direct, which I take advantage of on a daily basis. I would recommend anyone who is going into Finance to get certified on Morningstar as soon as possible; a lot of the top firms that you could potentially work for after graduation use Morningstar.
Before Dr. Cusatis started providing his genius expertise to students at Penn State Harrisburg, he had worked with a very intelligent woman in trading named Patricia Chambers (Patty). Patty now works at Newedge as a Vice President for the upstairs sales desk trading futures. And that’s where we were lucky enough to end our tour, on the trading floor of Newedge. As a leading entity in global multi-asset brokerage, Newedge is a world leader in multi-asset execution and are based out of Paris. Patty showed us around while speaking about her background and explaining what the company does. It was one of my favorite parts of the day. When she was finished and we had asked all of our questions, we left Dr. Cusatis to catch up with his dear friend and made our way back to the hotel.
This trip was fantastic. It was a great opportunity to see how this industry works and to network with professionals. We all had a wonderful time and can’t wait until our next trip. The plan for the Spring ’12 semester is New York City. If you would like to join us you can speak to any of the officers of the Finance Club. Cheers!
- PSH Finance Club Group picture on their Chicago Trip
Written by Emily Padjen, Senior Finance major in Honors Program at Penn State Harrisburg
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