CBOE Origin Remembrances: Shelly Natenberg

By Lawrence G. McMillan

Shelly Natenberg is best-known as author of the book, Option Volatility and Pricing.  He is respected as both a trader and an educator in the option business.

Q: As I’ve asked almost everyone being interviewed, how did you get into the option business in the first place?  The answers are so varied since it was a brand-new industry 50 years ago.

As with many option traders in the early days, I got in the way most people got in – through a friend or relative who was already in the business.  My brother had been a trader on the CBOE since 1974, and he suggested that I get into option trading.  I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic, since I had no background in finance or economics. But I was good at math.  So I started trading in December 1982.  Shortly thereafter, I bought a Midwest Stock Exchange (MSE) seat, which gave me the right to trade a limited number of stock options.  The MSE had listed options in Bristol-Myers (BMY), Superior Oil (SOC), Northwest Industries (NWI), Corning Glass (GLW), Diebold (DBD), and maybe a couple of others...

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