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 FAQ
1. What is the most common question people ask you? What would I see if I was in your seat? 1
2. When quoting quantity traded is it always in terms of cars? 2
3. Other then Names, what else are you forbidden to say? 3
4. When chatting to others, is it other squawk callers or just Coli. What charts do you use throughout the day? 4
5. What other squawks do you use throughout the day? 5
6. Do you follow a check list? 6
7. Do any of the pit traders look at charts or support&resistance numbers or do they just get a feel for the order flow? 7
8. What is the difference between Bids&Offers and Buyers&Sellers? 8
9. Can you measure the intensity of a move based on the loudness of the pit? Can you spot the end of an upward or downward move by climactic pit screaming? 9
10. Based on the saying "Never short a dull market", In your experience when the floor is quiet what is the percentage of times the market will pop or drop? 10
11. What is open range? 11
12. When talking about "prints", "not letting numbers in" is this protocol that's followed in the pit or required by the CME? Does The CME provide anymore information on there web page? 12
13. What is your process for getting support and resistance numbers? 13
14. What are you going to do when the S&P500 pit moves to the CBOT? 14
15. What does "All day" mean? 15
16. Is there paper to paper trading? 16
17. Is paper (the institutions) on the same side of the trade most of the time? If so why? 17
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20. When paper comes in with a lot of buy orders, do the locals know it? 20
21. Are some of the paper (institutions) more important than others? 21
22. What are the important pieces of information you give? What should we listen for?, example, "locals are stuck", "someone is still on the phone", "that they are hitting the bid or offer", that someone is pissed"? 22
23. Do the locals use charts, pivot numbers, watch other markets, etc, or are they basing everything off the body language of paper, and other locals? 23
24. How much room do locals (your top ten) give themselves to roll into a position? Do they base it on handles or the momentum? 24
25. Do locals and paper ever work together to manipulate a position? 25
26. What is paper? what does it mean when you say paper seller? 26
27. When you announce what the locals are doing should we follow?, buy when they buy and sell when they sell? 27
28. In search for entries in to the market to go either long or short; what have you observed that can serve as a signal to enter a trade long or short? For example, "arguing a low print" will usually turn to a higher market? 28
29. Why the auctioneer format? It makes it hard to listen for the real useful information. 29
30. Approaching the HOD you mentioned "the locals sold the offer and they don't like him", Did you mean they were upset at getting out of a position, or that they are upset at a member of the pit? 30
31. At times in a trade, say long, I hear Ben say paper sellers are coming in and I exit my long but the market continues to go up. What should I listen for to get a better sense of when sellers are a threat to a long position? 31
32. Are there traders that specialize on short trades, or long trades? Are they good tells? What are the characteristics of a good trader, or is it they just have a good sense of timing, that they seem to know when to push and when to join in? 32
33. Can I listen to pit audio and pit comentary on the same computer or do I need two machines? 33
34. When you say paper comes in at the bid, does that always mean they are buying or does it mean they want that price to buy or sell? 34
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40. What do you mean when you say "aggressive buyers or sellers are coming into the market? 40
41. Can you discuss the mini in relation to the pit? example " locals are buying the mini" 41
42. What does it mean when you say "he's got em" or "he's taken them"? 42
43. How do you know if it's a buyer or a seller when you say "he's got 100 at even" or the opposite of that? 43
44. Sometimes when in a trade say long, and you say sellers are coming in, I will exit my long but the market continues to go up a point or two. How can I be a better judge of when buyers or sellers are really reversing the market? 44
45. What do you mean by "retail" or "retail paper", bids or offers? How is that different from just paper? 45
46. When you say locals are stuck, say short, and they need to buy, does that usually mean that if they got the chance they'd pay up for anything they can buy, which would drive up prices quickly? 46
47. What do you mean when you say "paper to paper"? What do you mean by "light trade"? 47
48. Once in a while you say "no bid" What do you mean by no bid? 48
49. Do the locals get upset when you tell everyone they are stuck and have to buy or sell? 49
50. When the market moves with little change my attention moves elsewhere and I loose exactly what's going on. I hear you say "they're looking", and the emphasis in your voice grabs my attention. You frequently repeat "they're looking" but I don't know whether "they" is paper or locals and if they are looking to buy or sell. Any insight? 50