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Leg the Spread: A Woman's Adventures Inside the Trillion-Dollar Boys Club of Commodities Trading
In the Futures market, it’s all about minimizing risk and maximizing your wallet. Buying something gives you one leg—selling something gives you another—and if you’ve got two legs to stand on, that’s your spread. Anyone can make money by legging the spread, but if you’re a woman, you need something the presence, savvy, and stomach to run with the bulls and make your way in this ultimate boys club. Welcome to the jungle.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (known in the financial world as “the Merc”) is the busiest Futures exchange in the a hair-raising, high-pressure den of iniquity with enough yelling, bullying, and mayhem to rattle even the toughest of hardball commodities traders. And if you’re a woman, the Merc can be the seventh circle of hell, given the sexual harassment, verbal vulgarity, and blatant condescension that comes with the turf. But that fact hasn’t stopped a handful of talented and determined women from crashing the frat party of the Merc and making millions while they’re at it.
When Cari Lynn first ventured onto the floor of the Merc in early 2000, she did so because she, like so many others, was riveted by the amount of money that could be made through trading with seemingly little effort. But she quickly discovered that only a handful of females have ever made it into the trading pits—a testosterone-saturated world where the men are often monsters and there’s no room for boys, let alone women. Leg the Spread is the highly entertaining account of Lynn’s years as a clerk at the Merc, a job that taught her not only the cutthroat rules of engagement, but just how far both men and women will go when they stand to win or lose everything in the blink of an eye.
From learning the fast-moving art of “arb”—the hand signals used to generate trades—to learning to shout over the roar of the pits, Leg the Spread follows Lynn as she discovers the rush of high-stakes moneymaking, and herself. Along the way, she shares the stories of the Merc’s women traders, a motley crew of personalities who show her how to play the game. From Natalie, who bares her midriff and records her trades with a pink pom-pom pen, but is known to throw a punch to stand her ground, to Bev, who hustles billions of dollars in contracts every day and whose sway over the market is so great that major players like Goldman Sachs refuse to trade if she’s not in the pit, Lynn provides a riveting portrait of what it takes to prove your moxie daily in the midst of this ultimate men’s club.
Packed with jaw-dropping stories of bad behavior, good instincts, breathtaking greed, and heroic courage, Leg the Spread is an uproarious, adrenaline-fueled memoir that offers a completely new take on women and Wall Street—and an unprecedented entrée into one of the last true financial playgrounds.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (known in the financial world as “the Merc”) is the busiest Futures exchange in the a hair-raising, high-pressure den of iniquity with enough yelling, bullying, and mayhem to rattle even the toughest of hardball commodities traders. And if you’re a woman, the Merc can be the seventh circle of hell, given the sexual harassment, verbal vulgarity, and blatant condescension that comes with the turf. But that fact hasn’t stopped a handful of talented and determined women from crashing the frat party of the Merc and making millions while they’re at it.
When Cari Lynn first ventured onto the floor of the Merc in early 2000, she did so because she, like so many others, was riveted by the amount of money that could be made through trading with seemingly little effort. But she quickly discovered that only a handful of females have ever made it into the trading pits—a testosterone-saturated world where the men are often monsters and there’s no room for boys, let alone women. Leg the Spread is the highly entertaining account of Lynn’s years as a clerk at the Merc, a job that taught her not only the cutthroat rules of engagement, but just how far both men and women will go when they stand to win or lose everything in the blink of an eye.
From learning the fast-moving art of “arb”—the hand signals used to generate trades—to learning to shout over the roar of the pits, Leg the Spread follows Lynn as she discovers the rush of high-stakes moneymaking, and herself. Along the way, she shares the stories of the Merc’s women traders, a motley crew of personalities who show her how to play the game. From Natalie, who bares her midriff and records her trades with a pink pom-pom pen, but is known to throw a punch to stand her ground, to Bev, who hustles billions of dollars in contracts every day and whose sway over the market is so great that major players like Goldman Sachs refuse to trade if she’s not in the pit, Lynn provides a riveting portrait of what it takes to prove your moxie daily in the midst of this ultimate men’s club.
Packed with jaw-dropping stories of bad behavior, good instincts, breathtaking greed, and heroic courage, Leg the Spread is an uproarious, adrenaline-fueled memoir that offers a completely new take on women and Wall Street—and an unprecedented entrée into one of the last true financial playgrounds.
- GenresNonfictionFinance
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 5, 2004
2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 25, 2008
I hated, hated, hated this book. It opened with a good story that was never linked up. The first 100+ pages talked about the author's fear of walking out onto the training floor. I was so frustrated. I wish that I could get back the time that I wasted reading this book. The rest of my book club didn't even finish it.
June 5, 2017
An interesting contrast to several books I've read about Wall Street traders. This focuses on Chicago commodities traders, mainly at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange ("the Merc") and also at the Chicago Board of Trade. The book talks mainly about the culture, which sounds even worse than Wall Street.
She describes in vivid detail how the Merc is filthy, how the traders there break all the rules (no spitting, no littering, no threatening other traders), but the rules are strictly enforced against any women on the floor (no open-toed shoes, your skirt's too short, etc.). She also describes how trading gets people hooked on the money even while it makes them miserable, and it warps their view of the world (asking women to take off their shirts for thousands of dollars).
On the bright side, one woman trader at the CBOT managed to enforce some level of civility in her trading pit (wheat futures). Cari Lynn is a capable writer but no Michael Lewis, so there's no deeper analysis here, just a description of the scum on the surface.
She describes in vivid detail how the Merc is filthy, how the traders there break all the rules (no spitting, no littering, no threatening other traders), but the rules are strictly enforced against any women on the floor (no open-toed shoes, your skirt's too short, etc.). She also describes how trading gets people hooked on the money even while it makes them miserable, and it warps their view of the world (asking women to take off their shirts for thousands of dollars).
On the bright side, one woman trader at the CBOT managed to enforce some level of civility in her trading pit (wheat futures). Cari Lynn is a capable writer but no Michael Lewis, so there's no deeper analysis here, just a description of the scum on the surface.
December 6, 2011
This was a disappointing book,
the author doesn't say anything about how this business works,
she just talks about the rowdy atmosphere, her fears,
and a lot of the book is about her eating and drinking with others.
Just a lot of blather.
And the press reviews!!!
Give me a break, nothing sexy here, or anything else of interest.
the author doesn't say anything about how this business works,
she just talks about the rowdy atmosphere, her fears,
and a lot of the book is about her eating and drinking with others.
Just a lot of blather.
And the press reviews!!!
Give me a break, nothing sexy here, or anything else of interest.
February 24, 2017
A bit partial in my rating because the subject matter is reflective of what I do for a living. Overall, I enjoyed the authors perspective not only on trading but the culture of trading and the industry as a whole.
June 22, 2011
This was an intriguing look at the good old boys club of commodity trading from a women's perspective. It helps to understand the foundation of commodities trading, the harsh environment, the unforgiving atmosphere and the coping methods used by both men and women in making it through trading.
I liked here journalistic perspective, as well as her lay person's point of view that helps hone in the "real" world of commodity trading in the pits.
I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in commodity trading as a career, especially women. It is vital to understand your motivations, your responses and the way the futures/options markets grew up...
I liked here journalistic perspective, as well as her lay person's point of view that helps hone in the "real" world of commodity trading in the pits.
I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in commodity trading as a career, especially women. It is vital to understand your motivations, your responses and the way the futures/options markets grew up...
December 23, 2015
An interesting set of vignettes and stories in the trading pits of Chicago. Interesting to hear about the different personalities she encountered and all their quirks, as well as trials and tribulations. No this is not a book about trading, but for someone that has no experience in that world, it's interesting to get a sense of how the things operate in the trading pits.
February 22, 2007
This book was very insightful, and I did learn a lot about trading, namely how scary a world it is for a woman. But, there was a lot of details about trading that I could have done without. A trader or someone who wants to trade would really love this book.
September 24, 2008
This was a great book!
May 6, 2009
Ms. Lynn puts an interesting spin on the word of commodities and the increading role that women are playing in it.
April 10, 2010
A somewhat interesting look into into the commodities and futures trading business. I enjoyed the author's picking up of new friends which provided new and different insights.
Want to read
January 6, 2011Written by my cousin
August 4, 2011
Totally Chicago-centric.
March 30, 2013
A should-read autobiography on women in business.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews