When Jennifer Murray '01 says life has been crazy, she's not exaggerating. A broker on the floor of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), she spends much of her 10-hour work day amidst flying papers, roaring crowds, beeping pagers and cell phones, and cries of "I bid you 55 for 200! SOLD! At 60, 200 more. Buy them!"

In two years, Murray went from new graduate to phone clerk to full AMEX member and broker. She got started when John Romps, associate professor of economics, told her about an opening for a phone clerk at the Dutch bank ABNAMRO's operation on the exchange. She served as the liaison between the customer and the broker on the trading floor ("the pit").

"Starting as a clerk was an important step in learning the business," she says. "I got my interim membership last fall which enabled me to broker in the absence of another ABN broker. Things honestly just fell into place for me this year. One of our senior brokers retired and I followed as his replacement."

As a broker, Murray executes orders to trade equities, options, and exchange traded funds (ETFs). "My booth will call or route an order to me and it's my job to execute this order to the best of my ability given the market conditions at the time," she says. The job is challenging and exciting: "I am still learning more and more each day." One of her fellow brokers is Kevin Walsh '94.