Chicago Board of Trade

This American icon of commerce is exciting to watch at work.. Overview
Anchoring the "commerce canyon" of LaSalle Street, the stately Chicago Board of Trade building disguises a pumping energy within its walls. The world's largest futures and options exchange, the CBOT includes more than 3,600 members trading agriculture and financial products. Wearing an explosion of colorful jackets, traders use the open outcry trading method--a complex and orchestrated array of hand gestures and shouting--to conduct business in the pits.

The Experience
Visitors can look down on the agriculture trading floor from a gallery. Guides give a quick description of the trading process, while a short video offers more details. It helps to focus on one trader to witness the entire process. The bookstore in the lobby has free pamphlets on hand signals. The visitors' gallery houses artwork artifacts, history and the famous bell that signaled the opening and closing of trading for more than a half-century.…