(AP) - The roar of "Buy! Buy! Buy!" will soon go silent as most futures trading pits in Chicago and New York close for good. Chicago-based CME Group announced in February it was closing most of its futures trading pits in the two cities by early July.
Veterans say the end of most "open outcry" futures trading means a loss. The pits held a rich culture of brazen bets, flashy trading jackets and kids just out of high school getting a shot at making it big. The pits were a ruthless place. But they were also a proving ground where education and connections counted for nothing next to drive and, occasionally, muscle to push someone out of the way.
The pits that are closing deal in futures, or contracts to buy or sell something at a later date at a set price. They're used by farmers to lock in prices for their crops before harvest, for instance, and investors as a way to bet that prices will go up or down.
