What Is Open Outcry?
You might remember open outcry as the old-school way traders handled orders in trading pits before 2010. I’m talking about the verbal shouts and hand signals that traders at stock, option, and futures exchanges used, but these are now rare, overtaken by quicker and more precise electronic systems. In those pits, traders conveyed trading info, intentions, and acceptances through specific shouts and signals in a set sequence.
Key Takeaways
- Open outcry served as the main way pit traders shared trade orders.
- The intense competition in pits was efficient, but electronic trading has taken it to a higher level.
- Success in open outcry depended on short-lived info advantages, yet today's info equality benefits retail and institutional traders through better efficiency and more involvement.
Understanding Open Outcry
Let me explain trading pits: these are the physical areas on trading floors, often with steps or uneven levels to help traders see each other easily for face-to-face order communication. A contract forms when one trader announces a sell price and another agrees to buy at that price.
Think of open outcry like an auction where everyone competes for orders, promoting transparency, efficient markets, and fair price discovery. It stands apart from over-the-counter trading, which happens privately between two parties. In pits, most trading occurs among crowd members, with market makers at the edges handling much of the order flow to the pit traders.
Trading day lengths vary between open outcry and electronic setups like Globex. Regular hours usually go from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Eastern Time, while open outcry for things like corn futures and options at CBOT runs from 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Globex, launched in 1992 by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), was the first global electronic system for futures and options. It operates almost 24 hours from Sunday evening to late Friday, with brief daily breaks of 30 to 60 minutes depending on the product.
The End of Open Outcry Trading
Open outcry goes back centuries as the go-to trading method, but most exchanges have switched to electronic systems. These cut costs, speed up executions, and reduce manipulation risks, plus they aggregate info easily for everyone involved. Now, you can trade electronically for free from your computer or phone at home.
Some pro traders miss how electronic trading skips the intangible cues that pit traders used. For instance, it doesn’t show a buyer’s or seller’s real intentions or motivations, or the overall pit mood, which helped in decision-making.
You can get a sense of this pit vibe only from old movies and docs now. Take Trading Places with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd—it gives a funny but somewhat accurate view of pit methods, frustrations, and info edges. Pros still reference it to explain the old days.
Despite those cultural nods, trading today is way more efficient, with faster executions and lower fees, so open outcry isn’t coming back or expanding as a method on exchanges.
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