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Lately, I have been coming to a realization based on what I have read.
New York is the nation's financial captial and I will not dispute that. What shocked me the most is how powerful a financial center Chicago is. I am realizing Chicago is really not far behind New York when it comes to financial importance.
We all know what makes New York a powerful financial city. But I don't think most people have a clue about how powerful Chicago is.
The site indicates that the global derivatives market is $516 trillion. Put that in perspective, the US has $15 trillion in money supply and the global GDP is $50 trillion (give or take). The stock and bonds markets worldwide value at $100 trillion, only 1/5 of the global derivatives market.
Chicago is arguably the center of the global derivatives market being home to the largest derivatives exchanges. Chicago continues to dominate these markets.
It's quite interesting how the majority of the public is clueless about this. Everyone knows about NYSE-Euronext, NASDAQ, and Dow Jones, but no one has heard of CME Inc (the busiest trading floor in the world). The combined notional value of contracts traded on CME and CBOT in 2006 exceeded $1,000 trillion.
Is it safe to say that business in Chicago outvalues (in terms of $$) New York or any other city in the world? Is it safe to Chicago "handles" more money than anywhere in the world?
Any thoughts or additional comments?
Last edited by Libohove90; 04-17-2010 at 04:59 PM..
I dunno, I've always known this, people just sleep on Chicago and even Boston really... Most people in the u.s. mind often know more about Miami, Vegas than they do about Chicago and Boston, Philly etc.
Chicago is top 5 city in the world for financial centers, they are often right behind london new york and tokyo, recently singapore has jumped them for the #4 spot. Chicago has a lot of stuff people don't know about...it is very strong in economics, finance, academics, business, law... the top 2 biggest law firms in the u.s. are both in chicago...
I dunno, I've always known this, people just sleep on Chicago and even Boston really... Most people in the u.s. mind often know more about Miami, Vegas than they do about Chicago and Boston, Philly etc.
Chicago is top 5 city in the world for financial centers, they are often right behind london new york and tokyo, recently singapore has jumped them for the #4 spot.
It's such a shame. CME and CBOT in 2006 churned out $1,000 trillion in contracts...thats absolutely beyond imagination. Even Wall St. doesn't put up numbers anywhere near that.
I don't really have the time to explain any further b/c I need to get my ass into the city for a party...but I will say that Chicago is very close to New York in terms of Financial Market importance, but there are so many things outside of the CME and NYSE that launch New York into a considerably higher level than Chicago in terms of finance.
Sorry to do one of those "it's more importance because I say it is" posts, but I just don't want to lessen my time at the bar so I can debate the financial importance of Chicago vs New York haha...the only reason I'm even responding to this is b/c the screen just happened to be up while I was turning on music...I'm sure you all understand!
I don't really have the time to explain any further b/c I need to get my ass into the city for a party...but I will say that Chicago is very close to New York in terms of Financial Market importance, but there are so many things outside of the CME and NYSE that launch New York into a considerably higher level than Chicago in terms of finance.
Sorry to do one of those "it's more importance because I say it is" posts, but I just don't want to lessen my time at the bar so I can debate the financial importance of Chicago vs New York haha...the only reason I'm even responding to this is b/c the screen just happened to be up while I was turning on music...I'm sure you all understand!
When you have time, be sure to tell us more. I would love to hear it. Enjoy the party
It all comes down to what the overwhelming majority of Americans "know" about finance.
After all, the movie Wall Street popularized the notion of busy people on a trading floor in Manhattan. That makes sense to most people, even if that kind of trading hasn't existed in many years.
The words "derivatives" and "options" don't bring to mind anything much, really. Most people know them sort of as an evil construct designed by Wall Street to scam a lot of money (and that actually isn't too far from at least one truth). The exceptional complexity of derivatives and options means that they exist in a realm somewhere above that of normal Americans-- after all, most people in this country couldn't even balance a checkbook, let alone be bothered to understand the terms of a mortgage.
So from that perspective, yes, it's a bit understandable why Chicago wouldn't really call to mind anything specific about finance. But as someone who deals every day with this kind of thing, it's very common for me to sit in an office in Hong Kong or London and stare at what's happening in Chicago. For me, it is the most important financial market. I sort of care, at least a little, whether something is reported in NYC; after all, it tells me whether or not the statements I'm about to read for financial interpretation were prepared according to GAAP or IFRS.
But other than that... typically, I sit in that office and I metaphorically push Manhattan out of the way so that I can get a clearer picture of what's really important. It's a very cynical reversal of that infamous picture of Manhattan "below 4th".
i've read that new york controlled 40% of the worlds finances last year. I also understand that the NYSE is the largest financial institution in the world. So are experts,who frequently place new york and london as the top financial centers, giving chicago the left shoulder because.................. they dont like the city? I find that hard to believe. Sounds very citydataish to me
i've read that new york controlled 40% of the worlds finances last year. I also understand that the NYSE is the largest financial institution in the world. So are experts,who frequently place new york and london as the top financial centers, giving chicago the left shoulder because.................. they dont like the city? I find that hard to believe. Sounds very citydataish to me
they are 1-2... as I said in a post above, chicago is generally 4 or 5... depending on data/year ... behind nyc/tokyo/london
ny has a ton of big banks *headquarters* compared to chicago also, but, chicago merc owns NYMEX...and most of those banks have big offices in chicago also.
ny = stocks (public companies)nyse/nasdaq/nymex(gold/silver/oil) though cme owns them. chicago = futures/options/commodities(oil/rice/corn/hogs/gold/silver)/derivatives
could keep going tit for tat honestly...
i've read that new york controlled 40% of the worlds finances last year. I also understand that the NYSE is the largest financial institution in the world. So are experts,who frequently place new york and london as the top financial centers, giving chicago the left shoulder because.................. they dont like the city? I find that hard to believe. Sounds very citydataish to me
Actually, CME is the world's largest and most diverse financial exchange, not NYSE. CME is also the busiest trading floor in the world, especially since it merged with CBOT.
they are 1-2... as I said in a post above, chicago is generally 4 or 5... depending on data/year ... behind nyc/tokyo/london
ny has a ton of big banks *headquarters* compared to chicago also, but, chicago merc owns NYMEX...and most of those banks have big offices in chicago also.
ny = stocks (public companies)nyse/nasdaq/nymex(gold/silver/oil) though cme owns them. chicago = futures/options/commodities(oil/rice/corn/hogs/gold/silver)/derivatives
could keep going tit for tat honestly...
I think you're forgetting Hong Kong, which may well be above NYC these days.
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