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LIFFE

Technique

Thumb and index fingers are held to form the letter "L."

Origin

"L" in locals.

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Locals

Participants LIFFE Locals
1 of 32
Participants LIFFE Locals
Thumb and index fingers are held to form the letter "L."
"L" in locals.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - E.D. & F. Man
Index and pinky fingers are pointed downward.
Fingers form part of the letter "M" for the last name of the firm.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Dean Witter
Thumb and pinky finger are extended upward.
Fingers represent the letter "W" for first letter of the firm's last name.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Deutsche Bank
Index and middle finger are extended and held beneath nose.
Hitler's mustache.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Cargill
Closed fist is held at arm's length and moved side-to-side with slight arc.
Steering a car.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - GNI
Index finger is pointed at eye.
Last letter in firm name.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Kyte
Both hands mimic holding kite string.
Flying a kite.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Chase
Index and middle fingers are pointed downward while hand moves horizontally across body.
Fingers chasing.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Natwest
Index finger is pointed outward and thumb is moved up and down.
Wild West pistol.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - TSB Bank
Thumb is pointed downward from fist.
Opposite of firm slogan "The bank that likes to say yes."
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - TNT
Thumb is pointed upward then curled downward to index finger.
Detonating explosives.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Diawa
Index finger is extended and pulls back corner of eye.
Stereotype of Asian with slanted eyes.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Diawa version 2
Both hands are joined to form triangle above head.
Traditional hat worn by Asian agricultural workers.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Merrill Lynch
Hand is held to forehead with index and pinky fingers pointed upward.
Horns of Merrill Lynch's bull logo.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Bank of America
Hand is held over heart.
Americans place hand over heart during national anthem.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - IBJ
Tounge is pressed against cheek while hand is raised to mouth.
"BJ" portion of firm name. Signal used also for firm Hoare Govett as Hoare sounds like whore.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - REFCO
Hands are held out and curled to mimic revving a motorcycle.
Revving a motorcycle.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Fuji Bank
With fingers curled as if holding an apple, trader mimics taking a bite.
Eating a Fuji apple.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Chemical Bank
One hand mimics injecting syringe into other arm.
Injecting heroin.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Babcock & Brown
Fingers are formed into "O" and moved back and forth at belt level.
Play on "cock" in firm name.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Goldman Sachs
Index finger is pointed at ring finger on opposite hand.
Pointing to where a gold wedding ring is worn.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Swiss Bank Corp
Index finger is pointed to wrist of opposite hand.
Swiss-made watch.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - JP Morgan
Fist is struck against open palm of opposite hand.
Morgan Guaranty Bank is referenced by the stamp, as if guaranteed.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Lloyds
Both hands mimic holding reins.
Lloyd's logo is a horse.
Participants LIFFE Brokerage - Solomon Brothers
Index finger extended outward and draws an "S" in the air.
"S" is first letter of firm's name.

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.

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