"Thus far in 2006, the 150th anniversary of the Kansas City Board of Trade, the exchange has set a number of exciting records, one of the most remarkable being the sale of a membership for $200,000," said Daniel L. Gibson, KCBT Chairman.
Officially, the KCBT set new monthly volume records for every month thus far in 2006. With six trading days remaining in the month of April, an unofficial record has already been set for the calendar month.
February volume was the largest ever in the history of the exchange, with a total of 547,690 contracts traded, the first time ever that the KCBT traded more than 500,000 contracts in a calendar month.
Membership values at an exchange tend to fluctuate, often reflecting trading opportunities. Memberships have been steadily rising, with the average sale price for 2005 at $152,000 and 2004 at $112,667.
Currently, the lowest offer to sell a seat is at $210,000.
The KCBT is a for-profit corporation organized under the laws of Delaware. There are 192 Class "A" (equity) memberships or shares of stock in the exchange and 60 "B" (non-equity) or associate memberships.
The Kansas City Board of Trade, founded in 1856, is the world's largest futures market for hard red winter wheat. This year, the exchange is celebrating its 150-year anniversary.
