The Chicago Board of Trade Goes Public

One of the major changes on Wall Street over the past few years has been the explosion of derivatives trading, meaning futures and options. It’s become a very big business for the exchanges, and there’s no better sign of a business going well than a new IPO.
After 157 years as a private exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade (BOT) started trading publicly on the NYSE today. The stock was priced at $54, and investors don’t seem too worried about the recent implosion of Refco. Shares of BOT are currently trading at $83. That’s a nice 54% profit which ain’t too bad for one day’s work.
The Chicago Board of Trade only sold about 6% of its shares, which means that there will probably be a large offering in the future. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) went public three years ago and has been a great performer since. Shares of CME are up over 800%. The Nasdaq Stock Market (NDAQ) has also done well. Refco went public in August.

Posted by on October 19th, 2005 at 3:00 pm


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