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Expiration Months

All futures contracts have an expiration month; thus, there are standard hand signals that indicate each month.

Hand Signals for Futures Contracts Months

January

Hand Signals January
Put hand in front of throat.

February

Hand Signals February
Hold index and pinky finger up, middle fingers down – like bunny ears.

March

Hand Signals March
Wiggle fingers, thumb tucked in.

April

Hand Signals April
Wiggle fingers while lowering hand and arm.

May

Hand Signals May
Hold jacket flap.

June

Hand Signals June
Make bunny ears pointed downward.

July

Hand Signals July
Point to eye.

August

Hand Signals August
Rub forehead with four fingers, circular motion.

September

Hand Signals September
Hold palm open, pointing up.

October

Hand Signals October
Victory sign.

November

Hand Signals November
Make an X in front of face.

December

Hand Signals December
Cross index and middle finger, as in good luck sign.

Expiration cycles

Trading Eurodollars involves a set of hand signals that convey expiration cycles. Eurodollars are listed in quarterly cycles, extending out 10 years. They are traded in 12-month “packs”, consisting of four 3-month quarters, with expiration months of March, June, September and December. Each 12-month pack is assigned a certain color. For example, the first series of contracts – those that are up to one year out – are called the “whites”, although they’re usually just referred to as the “front months”. After “the whites” come the “reds”, (the series of contracts one to two years out), followed by the “greens” (which are two to three years out), and so on. (The colors for the years four through 10 are, respectively: blue, gold, purple, orange, pink, silver and copper.) There is a hand signal that indicates each of these packs, except for the whites or front months. You can see the signals for some of these below.

Reds

Hand Signals Reds
One motion; hand moves down from vertical to touch shoulder.

Greens

Hand Signals Greens
Index finger and thumb joined as in.

Blues

Hand Signals Blues
Fingers wiggle back and forth.

Golds

Hand Signals Gold
Thumb on ring finger.

Market Signals

Other hand signals convey the following:

Hand Signals Filled

Filled

Thumb up; indicates that an order is completely filled.

Hand Signals Working

Working

Index finger rotates forward; means that the broker has not filled the order but is still attempting to do so; also used for partially filled orders on which the broker is still working to fill completely.

Hand Signals Stop

Stop

Fist into palm; means that the order is a stop order (activated when the price reaches a certain level).

At that point, a stop order becomes a market order and the broker must attempt to get the best price when filling it. Can be used to enter or exit both long and short positions. For example, if you are long and fear a drastic price drop, you can issue a stop order to be activated when the contract drops to a given price. Your stop then becomes a market order that the broker will attempt to fill before the price drops even more – even if it requires selling at or below the stop price. Likewise, a short can issue a “buy” stop order if he fears the price will rise.

Hand Signals Out/Cancel

Out/Cancel

Hand moves across throat; shows that the order has been canceled.

Options

In options trading on the CME floor, traders need to indicate whether an order is a put or a call, in addition to using the standard signals to convey other information about the order.

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Put

Hand Signals Put

Call

Hand Singals Call

Summary

This has been a brief introduction to CME’s hand signals. Anyone who works on the Exchange floors needs to know and use these signals perfectly. Hand signals are essential for successful pit trading at CME, and using the wrong signal could result in a substantial loss.

“An Introduction to Hand Signals” is published by Chicago Mercantile Exchange for general educational purposes only. Although every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained here in, CME assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. All matters pertaining to rules and specifications herein are made subject to and are superseded by official CME rules.

This material is published by Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Education Department for the purpose of educating exchange members, floor clerks, employees and students. Reproduction for any purpose without the written permission of the Education Department is strictly prohibited.

Contents Courtesy of CME Group.