FLASH FRIDAY is a weekly content series looking at the past, present and future of capital markets trading and technology. FLASH FRIDAY is sponsored by Instinet, a Nomura company.
Traders Magazine is all about trading and technology in secondary markets, mostly focused on U.S. equities and equity options.
And in these dog days of summer, with many folks on vacation and news flow slow, Flash Friday must go on. As the Traders Magazine Editor sorted through old print issues of Traders for inspiration, a meta story idea hit me – is there a secondary market for Traders Magazine itself?
I fired up eBay dot com for the first time in years, and somewhat surprisingly, found zero (0) Traders Magazines for sale.
But there are a few other back-issue traders’ magazines – lowercase t, lowercase m – for sale, which piqued my curiosity regarding what what’s what. Let’s have a look.
First, the November/December 2007 issue of Trader Monthly is listed. The eBay seller is asking $52 for the issue, more than quintuple the $10 cover price. The cover article could be relevant today: “The New Math: As Algorithms Transform Trading, Women Are Leading the Quant Revolution.”
What became of Trader Monthly? According to Wikipedia: “Trader Monthly was a lifestyle magazine for financial traders founded by Magnus Greaves. The headquarters was in New York City. The target audience of Trader Monthly was the financial community with an average income at or exceeding US$450,000 and/or net worth greater than $2 million.”
Published by Doubledown Media, Trader Monthly lasted only from 2004-2009.
The next trading title for sale on eBay is the October 2016 issue of Modern Trader. The seller is asking $8, equivalent to its face value of $7.99, plus $6.40 shipping. The cover story is “Finding the Next Top Traders.”
Chicago-based Modern Trader has had several iterations, but it still exists. From Wiki: “Modern Trader is a U.S.-based monthly print investment magazine. The publication was established in 1972 under the name Commodities. The name was changed to Futures in September 1983 and Modern Trader in 2015.”
Modern Trader’s website, futuresmag.com, now directs to topstep.com.
The final trading title being auctioned on eBay is the October 2012 Active Trader. This is being offered for its face value of $4.95, plus $4.67 shipping. The cover article is “Election 2012: Market Implications.”
It’s not clear exactly what became of Active Trader, but apparently it’s inactive, as its website shows a maintenance mode and a 2017 date.
There are several general trading titles available for hardcore trading magazine aficionados, including Cycle Trader, Old Car Trader, and Antique Trader. But we’re getting a bit off-topic. For now, the only conclusion to draw from the lack of Traders Magazines on eBay is that (Dad joke ahead) Traders Magazine is priceless.
