While standing in queue at the crowded farmers’ market for my usual Sunday bacon, I grew worried that for the second week in a row the bacon vendors would be out of my favorite bacon by the time I got to the front of the line. I contemplated how much that 1lb of back-fat was worth to me as their inventory was being reduced and sold to any one that left their house early enough to stand in line and the pay the $8 the bacon vendors were asking for each 1lb. I couldn’t imagine a more inefficient way for those bacon vendors to get rid of their inventory and for the buyers of bacon to purchase their product.
From the back of the queue, I shouted “8 and 1/4 bid for 1 bacon!” and waved my hands toward me repeatedly (indicating I was a buyer). The response: nil. So in the line I patiently remained and waited my turn to purchase my bacon. What a way to spend my time. Unfortunately for the pit traders in Chicago, the same ambivalent feelings towards an open outcry market are pervasive in the world of trading.
From FLOORED- a great depiction of how this market is going extinct in an 8 part series.