• The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or Merc, is an organized exchange for trading futures and options.

  • The CME was originally called the Chicago Butter and Egg Board and was used to trade agricultural products such as wheat and corn.
  • In the 1970s, the CME added financial futures, which were soon followed by precious metals, treasury bonds and other assets.
  • In 2007, CME merged with the Chicago Board of Trade to create the CME Group, one of the world’s largest financial exchange operators. CME Group now owns several more exchanges in different cities.
  • Currently, CME is also known for trading unusual commodities such as bitcoin futures and weather derivatives.