CME
Technique
Hands are held with fingers extended and brought together at 45-degree angle.
Origin
Roof of house.
Brokerage House
1 of 32
Hands are held with fingers extended and brought together at 45-degree angle.
Roof of house.
One hand is held at 45-degree angle with fingers extended.
Roof of house (shorthand version).
Hand is held above head with index finger extended downward, then rotated in circles.
Most traders in the pit are locals.
Thumb and index finger are pressed together and held to mouth.
Smoking a joint.
Fist is held at arm's length and moved in side-to-side arc.
Steering a car.
Index finger is extended and held beneath nose.
Hitler's mustache.
Hand is held palm outward and thumb is folded to touch ring ringer.
Wedding ring.
Index and pinky fingers are extended from fist.
Horns of Merrill Lynch bull logo.
Index and middle fingers are opened and closed while moving across body.
Cutting shears.
Hand is held palm outward with all fingers curled.
Bear claw.
Hand slaps back of neck.
Pain in the neck.
Index finger is extended outward and draws the letter "S" in the air.
"S" is first letter of the firm's name.
Thumb and index finger tug earlobe.
Famous advertisement: "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen."
Hand mimics drinking tea.
Boston Tea Party.
Fingers are wrapped around knot in tie.
Bankers' ties.
Hand mimics banging hammer.
Mimic hammer in hand.
One hand rings eye and other extends out in circular form as if holding spyglass.
Trader's last name sounds similar to "scope."
Fingers are held to face and mimic scratching beard.
Trader's last name rhymes with "beard."
Cheeks are filled with air.
Trader was known to be loud and exuberant.
Participants
The ability to recognize all market participants was what made open outcry trading transparent and from this, signals were developed for the larger brokerages and for some large local traders. In cases where a more universal signal was never developed, their hand signal in the pit would simply be their three digit firm number.