MMM. Hmm. The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has confessed — revealing in a statement that it is in talks with certain “parties” in regards to possible transactions, meaning a merger or sale.
The Nymex did not, however, name those parties, which are rumored to be the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group, neither of which are saying anything other than “no comment,” which surely means YES!
Speculation now lies in which exchange will end up the victor — seems to be NYSE Euronext at the moment.
Which exchange ends up with Nymex may not seem like a huge deal for either exchange, seeing as each suitor has just acquired a big market: NYSE Group taking Euronext to form NYSE Euronext and the CME winning the Chicago Board of Trade to form CME Group, but let me tell you, it is important.
With its purchase of the CBOT, the CME Group is paving the way to making Chicago not just the futures center of the United States, but more. Just the fact that Nymex is considering a bid by the CME shows New York may have given up on trying to be the biggest financial city (for exchange traded markets) in the United States. Of course, Nymex may choose NYSE Euronext to help level that eventual Mega-U.S. exchange versus Mega-Euro exchange playing field, so it really can go either way.
It’s a tough one. What about more lost jobs? After the CME announced about 380 jobs would be lost through its merger with the CBOT, Nymex put out a statement saying it may need to fire about 150 employees to cut costs. But that’s a blog for another day.
Tags: Chicago, exchange markets, financial centers, futures exchanges, New York
