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No panic in Chicago trading pits as stocks slide
Reuters Story - October 23, 1997 22:50
%US %DRV %STX %DBT %FIN .OEX .DJI V%REUTER P%RTR
By Gregory Crawford
CHICAGO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Many retail investors stayed
away, but Chicago's stock futures and options trading pits took
the meltdown in U.S. stocks in stride Thursday, with few
traders uttering the P-word: panic.
"We were busy on the opening because it caught everyone off
guard, but there's nothing going on," said a trader in S&P 100
index options at the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
"It's really strange."
As a 10 percent selloff in Hong Kong stocks rippled through
financial markets around the world, U.S. stock prices opened
sharply lower but quickly stabilized.
By early afternoon, however, most major stock indexes were
recovering from fresh session lows, with the bellwether Dow
industrial average off 213 points at roughly 7,821 after
hitting about 7,805.
December Dow futures were down 211 at 7,864 after hitting a
day's low at 7,750 off the opening bell.
When stocks opened at 0830 CDT/1330 GMT, traders in the Dow
futures said the market was moving down in 25-point ticks, with
the bid/ask spread at one time widening to 100 points. The
minimum tick is one point.
"I was just glad to be on the outside looking in," said a
floor broker in the bond futures pit.
But even so, stock futures traders said if trading was
chaotic, the mood was far from panicky, with investors having
grown accustomed to sharp moves and with a "buy the dips"
strategy having paid off handsomely throughout the 15-year bull
market.
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