Chicago Pits floor trading was capitalism at its most feral

I traded at the world’s three largest futures exchanges: Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, London International Financial Futures Exchange. There was a premium on one human quality: aggression.   Now, that futures and options are traded electronically, the premium is on brains and human analysis.   Bill Walker is author of the Skywalker hiking books. His most recent book is a novel about the Chicago futures...

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‘Chicago Pits’ Is in the Vein of Wolf of Wall Street and Bonfire of the Vanities

Bill Walker’s new novel, Chicago Pits, is satirical in the vein of The Bonfire of the Vanities or Wolf of Wall Street. One is bound to never view our nation’s financial markets the same again, after reading Walker’s account of the savagery on the trading floor in Chicago. He should know what he is talking about having worked at The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Chicago Board of Trade (CBT), and London...

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‘Chicago Pits’ Goes on Sale on Amazon

Chicago Pits, written by Bill Walker, a former broker at the world’s three largest futures and option exchanges, including senior broker for Kidder Peabody, a leading Wall Street Company, has gone on sale at www.amazon.com.  The link is: https://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Pits-Mr-Bill-Walker/dp/1981143289/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516292918&sr=8-1&keywords=chicago+pits This suspense novel tells the tale of a...

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Skywalker Releases Novel about Chicago Futures and Options Markets

B Bill Walker, author of the Skywalker hiking series, has just released his long-in-the-works novel about the Chicago futures and options business. It is entitled, Chicago Pits. It is a surprisingly savage tale of life on a futures and options trading floor, written by someone who worked and traded at the world’s three largest futures and options exchanges.

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Skywalker Hiking Books a Good Christmas Gift

Let’s face it–Christmas shopping can take on an obligatory cast. What to buy. My experience is that gifts that ‘enable’ make the best Christmas gifts. How about some long-distance hiking narratives to plant seeds in the recipients minds. I was 44 years-old and had never spent the night outside when I decided to attempt to thru-hike the 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail. I was so taken with the experience that I decided to...

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