I got to know Leo over the years…loved his story about starting currency futures…carrying a letter from Friedman all over the world and hearing a Japanese banker ask “What is the REAL reason for having this marketplace?” Funny story as Leo tried to answer with all his canned reason’s…but the banker had his own answer and let Leo off the hook by finally providing the answer himself.
“When the politicians come out on the front steps of their Capitols, waving around pieces of paper and saying this legislation is going to create jobs and wealth and prosperity for all we need a place that can say “BullS***t.”
A legitimate case can be made for Leo impacting as many individuals' lives as any other person in the history of Chicago, when you take into account all of the jobs, the money, the influence, the positive public relations and so many other things.
In the spring of 1982, I was a 21 year old who'd been working for Refco since I graduated high school in 1978. (Refco very nicely allowed me to go to a college for a couple of years and be able to return during breaks, or work mornings etc). Because the firm was growing leaps and bounds, by '82 I was asst floor manager in the Bond room, arbing all session, as well as morning and pm trade checker. I worked 60 hour weeks and I think in 1981, my total comp was around $23k. At that time, Leo had formed Dellsher and was trying to clear institutional accounts. I imagine he wanted to emulate the wealth of Refco's, Tom Ditmer, who was making $50mil per year, and one year during that era, appeared on an early Forbes 400 list, with a net worth of around $250mil.
So, Leo hired a guy who was high up on the T-Bill desk at Solomon Brothers to run his operation and that guy wound up recruiting me to run Leo's desk on the Bond floor. The pay was a third more for way less work than i was making at Refco, so I reluctantly made the jump. It was a mistake in so far as the Solly dude was a tyrant to work under and Leo wasn't able to leverage his relationships on Wall Street into commission futures business. I stayed for 6 months and then left, to lease a seat in the Bond pit and seek my own fortune.
Still, Leo was a total gentlemen, and I was around long enough to see him make a nifty Bond trade-from the long side! Pretty much every day, he'd call up with a 5 or 10 lot buy order, and then later in day, take a loss of a couple of grand. To be honest, I thought he sucked as a trader. I was used to Refco, where Ditmer would call up and nonchalantly mumble, "buy me three million Nov, Jan and March beans" and then hang up. By comparison Leo, seemed like a piker. But after several tries at getting long, Leo finally had a 10 lot that was going his way, so he bought another 10, and then a 20 lot. Bingo. Bonds rallied several points, Leo made $300k on an original position that had a risk of probably $3,000. He was the epitome of only betting big when using "house money". In my book, Leo was the ultimate jack of all trades.
What a beautiful tribute. Sadly his name probably doesn’t adorn a street bc he doesn’t count on the oppressed intersectional pinwheel. Honestly I knew nothing about him. It seems like someone should do a movie about his life. Thank you for writing this. I had no idea!! Chicago owes him a lot. Hopefully Johnson doesn’t drive out the main company that put the city on the map in the first place.
not sure if he is a genius, but he's smart. The thing Leo could do was put a few disparate things together, then execute on them. It took a long time for the FOREX market to click. But, when it did it was the largest in the world until CME lost it. I remember the 80s when the D-Mark moved a ton each way each day, with lots of volume. If you could trade you could print money in there.
I got to know Leo over the years…loved his story about starting currency futures…carrying a letter from Friedman all over the world and hearing a Japanese banker ask “What is the REAL reason for having this marketplace?” Funny story as Leo tried to answer with all his canned reason’s…but the banker had his own answer and let Leo off the hook by finally providing the answer himself.
“When the politicians come out on the front steps of their Capitols, waving around pieces of paper and saying this legislation is going to create jobs and wealth and prosperity for all we need a place that can say “BullS***t.”
A legitimate case can be made for Leo impacting as many individuals' lives as any other person in the history of Chicago, when you take into account all of the jobs, the money, the influence, the positive public relations and so many other things.
In the spring of 1982, I was a 21 year old who'd been working for Refco since I graduated high school in 1978. (Refco very nicely allowed me to go to a college for a couple of years and be able to return during breaks, or work mornings etc). Because the firm was growing leaps and bounds, by '82 I was asst floor manager in the Bond room, arbing all session, as well as morning and pm trade checker. I worked 60 hour weeks and I think in 1981, my total comp was around $23k. At that time, Leo had formed Dellsher and was trying to clear institutional accounts. I imagine he wanted to emulate the wealth of Refco's, Tom Ditmer, who was making $50mil per year, and one year during that era, appeared on an early Forbes 400 list, with a net worth of around $250mil.
So, Leo hired a guy who was high up on the T-Bill desk at Solomon Brothers to run his operation and that guy wound up recruiting me to run Leo's desk on the Bond floor. The pay was a third more for way less work than i was making at Refco, so I reluctantly made the jump. It was a mistake in so far as the Solly dude was a tyrant to work under and Leo wasn't able to leverage his relationships on Wall Street into commission futures business. I stayed for 6 months and then left, to lease a seat in the Bond pit and seek my own fortune.
Still, Leo was a total gentlemen, and I was around long enough to see him make a nifty Bond trade-from the long side! Pretty much every day, he'd call up with a 5 or 10 lot buy order, and then later in day, take a loss of a couple of grand. To be honest, I thought he sucked as a trader. I was used to Refco, where Ditmer would call up and nonchalantly mumble, "buy me three million Nov, Jan and March beans" and then hang up. By comparison Leo, seemed like a piker. But after several tries at getting long, Leo finally had a 10 lot that was going his way, so he bought another 10, and then a 20 lot. Bingo. Bonds rallied several points, Leo made $300k on an original position that had a risk of probably $3,000. He was the epitome of only betting big when using "house money". In my book, Leo was the ultimate jack of all trades.
Great story!
Thank you for this acknowledgment of Leo Melamed’s contribution to Chicago. His life is a blessing.
It is.
Thanks for your remembrance! Not my world Mr Carter but everything you guys did had great impact! Keep them coming!
What a beautiful tribute. Sadly his name probably doesn’t adorn a street bc he doesn’t count on the oppressed intersectional pinwheel. Honestly I knew nothing about him. It seems like someone should do a movie about his life. Thank you for writing this. I had no idea!! Chicago owes him a lot. Hopefully Johnson doesn’t drive out the main company that put the city on the map in the first place.
Leo Melamed is a genius!
not sure if he is a genius, but he's smart. The thing Leo could do was put a few disparate things together, then execute on them. It took a long time for the FOREX market to click. But, when it did it was the largest in the world until CME lost it. I remember the 80s when the D-Mark moved a ton each way each day, with lots of volume. If you could trade you could print money in there.
God Bless Leo. I'm old school CBOT. The death of open outcry literally makes me cry. That said, onwards and upwards.
I miss it. I was looking forward to being this age and trading....sport trading