Chess Obermeier started working for his cousin, Charles Obermeier, at the Cboe, and was able to purchase his first membership by his 21st birthday. He eventually made his way to the CBOT in 1984, where he traded grain up until 2016. During his time on the floor, Chess met his future wife Maureen, who was also working on the floor at the time. The rest is history. Check out part 2 with Maureen Obermeier tomorrow.
Produced by Mike Forrester
When Kenny Polcari started out at the New York Stock Exchange, “It was paper and pencil until the turn of the century,” he said. The exchange started to introduce handheld computers in the late 1990s, but it was only in beta, not full blown yet. Everyone was...
When he was young, Kenny Polcari wanted to be in politics – preferably to eventually be president of the United States. But, he said, “Thank God none of that came true.” When he was 19, he interned on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. He knew nothing about the...
HEAD OF NYSE TRADING FLOORS WORKED HIS WAY FROM RUNNER TO HEAD OF COTTON EXCHANGE AND ON TO NYSE TRADING FLOOR HEAD Tom Greene wanted to be a civil servant, perhaps a fireman, when he was growing up. However, despite his best efforts, those jobs went to returning...
When Doug Engmann, chairman of Sage Brokerage Holdings, chose to expand his business to other exchanges, it was the late Jack Wing, Chairman Emeritus of Chicago Corporation, who helped him make the decision. Sage, unlike other clearing firms at the time, Engmann...
A young Doug Engmann once had hopes of becoming a professional baseball player. Despite his continued love of the sport, his early career goals eventually shifted from the game of baseball to the game of investing. Throughout his career, Engmann employed a...
Joe Corona’s Open Outcry Traders History Project story is a frank discussion of someone who stumbled into the markets as a temporary gig on his way to another career that never happened. Joe started a career in the markets after a friend of a friend helped him get a...