Traces the rich, colourful history of the futures market on its quest for respectability and profit. This revealing account describes why this market has been grabbing headlines for over 100 years as both respectable economic institutions and hotbeds of gambling activity and scandal.

Wheels of Fortune is an engaging and original story that traces the rich, colorful, and often scandalous history of speculation in the U.S. financial markets. Set against a backdrop that begins prior to the Civil War and continues through the twentieth century, renowned business historian and bestselling author Charles Geisst takes you on an incredible journey that brings the personalities and strategies behind the futures markets, and speculation in general, to life.

Discover how legendary traders such as Benjamin Hutchinson cornered the wheat market in the nineteenth century, and learn how other bold traders as well as lax regulations paved the way for twentieth-century debacles that continue to tarnish the reputation of the CBOT, the CME, and other related institutions and markets.

The history of the futures market, derivatives, and speculation is full of misunderstandings and false assumptions. Wheels of Fortune seeks to clarify these misconceptions by chronicling the events and individuals that brought scandal and skepticism into the markets, and exploring the laws and governing bodies that were established to rein them in-but lacked the power to do so.