Tom Baldwin is a legendary figure in the history of the Chicago Board of Trade. Formerly a product manager for a meat-packing firm, he amassed $20,000 and leased a seat on the exchange in 1982. He began by trading one-lots, but very quickly established himself as a highly competitive and successful member of the trading floor community. With the U.S. experiencing high inflation in the early 1980s, Baldwin rode the rise in the popularity of the relatively new Treasury Bond contract. Although he shunned publicity, he was respected in the industry for his tremendous “feel” for which way the market was likely to move. At his peak, he was the single largest individual trader in the Treasury bond pit, which itself was the largest futures market in the world. His success as a local in the Treasury bond pit exemplifies the success of the futures industry in providing the liquidity necessary for large institutions and others to take the other side of their trades. Baldwin is currently president of Baldwin Commodities Corporation, a Treasury Bond futures proprietary trading company, and manages a hedge fund.
