Metal Traders Can Keep Screaming In London For Now!

Pit trading might have become relegated to the past but with today’s decision, pit trading can continue for some more time at the London Metal Exchange. Pit trading is the tradition of face to face bidding that will help the London Metal Exchange stay credible in the wake of the recent financial scandals relating to currencies and interest rates LIBOR.

When Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. (388) bought the LME for $2.2 billion in 2012, it pledged to stick with open outcry trading until at least January 2015. For now and into the indefinite future, traders in suits, ties and dark shoes, seated on red leather sofas arranged in a six-meter (20-foot) diameter circle called the ring, will continue to determine prices on six main industrial metals that firms around the world use to settle their books every work day, according to today’s announcement.