Chicago Mercantile Shares Fall on New CEO

Investors holding Chicago Mercantile Exchange shares appeared to give a no-confidence vote Tuesday to the exchange’s new chief executive.

The Merc’s stock dived $6.32, or 8.1%, to $71.60 on the New York Stock Exchange after the parent of the largest U.S. futures exchange late Monday said Craig Donohue would become CEO. He will succeed James McNulty at year’s end.

Some analysts said investors may fear that Donohue would halt or slow the exchange’s move toward electronic trading and away from floor trading.

The fate of the storied Chicago trading floor has become a highly charged issue with long-time traders.

“McNulty never deferred to the trading floor; he looked at the floor as something with a finite life cycle,” said one futures industry consultant who asked not to be named.

A Merc spokeswoman said the company is “absolutely committed” to electronic trading.