WJB’s annual Charity Day on May 12 was a slam dunk for several charities.
The agency brokerage raised $1.4 million for several charities during a basketball themed day in New York City where players, coaches and traders all had a grand time raising money for their favorite causes.
The broker saw healthy trading volumes, about 50 million shares, which helped make WJB’s third annual Charity Day a success. WJB hosted the event at its new 32,000 square foot headquarters at 909 Third Avenue in Manhattan.
Amid the revelry, the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a 66 point gain in a day that saw stocks start lower and then finish higher as they tracked oil prices. U.S. light sweet crude finished the day up 71 cents and settled at $98.97 a barrel.
The charities managed to benefit despite a morning bout of profit taking in commodities that pulled copper prices to their lowest level since December 1. Silver also tumbled with spot prices dropping more than 6 percent last Thursday after tumbling about 9 percent the previous day. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB index, a broad measure of commodity performance, has lost nearly 8.8 percent so far in May.
So despite the distraction from these other markets, the broker managed to trade good volume and enjoy some revelry, said Craig Rothfeld, chief executive at WJB Capital Group.
"While the market was slow, we were still able to raise more money than last year," Rothfeld said. "The atmosphere was still electric."
Last year’s Charity Day was held on April 14 and raised $1.2 million. Since the event’s inception, WJB has raised $3.5 million dollars.
The day had a basketball theme as WJB sales traders took to the floor with basketball superstars, veterans and TV personalities acting as sales traders and traded 50 million shares with the broker donating all proceeds from its equity and derivative desks. The monies will be split between Coaches vs. Cancer, No Greater Sacrifice, Habitat for Humanity, ThanksUSA, The Joint Epilepsy Council, National Foundation for Veteran Redeployment and Aish Hatorah.
This year’s daylong event had a basketball theme and featured Julius "Dr. J" Erving, coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse University, coach Bo Ryan of the University of Wisconsin, coach Will Brown from the University at Albany, The State University of New York, Kenny Dennard, of financial market consultancy Dennard Rupp Gray & Lascar, LLC, formerly of the Duke University class of 1981 and former NBA player, and Jason Hart from Syracuse University’s basketball program from 1997 to 2000 and nine-year member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Representing some of the charities were Donald Distasio, chief executive at the American Cancer Society’s Eastern Division, Lieutenant General Kenneth Minihan of the U.S. Air Force and ThanksUSA, and Jim Satalin, national director at Coaches vs. Cancer.
Rothfeld told Traders Magazine that in between trades brokers and celebrities enjoyed shooting hoops in arcade-style baskets that were set up on the trading floor. In the end, the charities were the day’s biggest winners
"We are already planning and looking forward to WJB’s 4th Annual Charity Day, Partnering to Make a Difference, in the spring of 2012," Rothfeld said.
