The Windy City is an important spoke in the wheel of financial centers located around the United States. Next to New York, Chicago is regarded by many as one of the busiest places for all things stock market. Considering the fact that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is the United States’ oldest futures exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade acts as the largest trader of derivative products, it is easy to see why Chicago is truly one of the nation’s financial centers.

Overview of the City

Chicago is the third largest city in America behind both New York and Los Angeles. By many estimates there are almost 3,000,000 people who call Chicago home while the city itself takes up 234 square miles of Illinois land.

Geography

The city was founded in the 1830s on land that is located near the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan. Other significant bodies of water, such as the Chicago River and the Calumet River, also run through Chicago.

Climate

The summers and winters in the Chicago area tend to be on the extreme at times. The average Chicago summer day will generally have high temperatures that reach into the low 80s and the highs in the winters usually hover around freezing. Summer is the rainiest season of the year in Chicago and the winter will generally bring one large storm that produces around 10 to 14 inches of snow in one day. Beyond that snow falls in light accumulations sporadically throughout the winter. The actual weather patterns of Chicago are quite unpredictable and can vary drastically from one year to the next.

Chicago Board of Trade

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was established in 1848 for the business of trading futures and commodities options. The CBOT continues to be one of the nation’s main players in the market as over 50 various futures and options are traded by approximately 3,600 members. Along with big industry, the CBOT is one of the major reasons Chicago has become the financial center it is today.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) was founded in 1898 as a non-profit organization and went public in 2002. The CME is the largest futures market in America and deals mainly in interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange, and commodities.