I don't know any sign language, but from the hand signals used at the CME,CBOE, and CBOT I would have to say no. Vega
When I was a very bad electronic daytrader, I used to resent never having seen any trading floor in person. Now that I think about it: I don't like to meet people face to face. I don't go out for fun, try to do everything over the internet, I am even uncomfortable talking to people on the phone. On the radio I prefer Morse code to voice. Somehow I get the feeling that the trading floor is an experience I can live without.
Worked on the "Parkett" in Frankfurt. Golden times there seem to be over, because electronic trading is taking its place via "Xetra".
Once upon a time I was heavy short NVDA on a nice april morning and Greenspan hit the wire with a suprise rate cut. The markets boomed so fast that my internet connection couldn't handle it. When I finally got my charts back and saw the damage, I fell out of my recliner and hit the *floor* and proceeded to commence with some large *open out-cry* The experience provided me with some valuable insight.
LOL...thats funny...in a dark way. I think I remember the day your talking about...January 2001? I was short a tech too (XlNX i think) and covered about 30seconds before te surprise...someone was watching over me apparently.
10 years floor experience, and I can honestly say that it has not helped myself nor my comrades who left the floor to trade "upstairs". You can "smell" and "feel" the market on the floor, knowing the players, how they act when they get a size order, knowing who is constantly wrong, etc........upstairs is all abstract, reading numbers......the most distracting thing about trading in an office with traders who have never been on a floor is hearing the bitching and moaning about the specialists "moving around the stock"...please....the Goldmans, Morgans, DB's etc do that......sure the specialist has an edge...he holds the cards.....but shareholders "move" the stocks and set the prices......
I have never traded on the floor, though I have been to a number of them. It seems like a different skill set is required for optimal performance on the floor vs. for screen based traders. Most people could probably do both, but extreme personalities/skill sets could probably only do one or the other. What do you think? FLOOR: extraverts Physical skills- getting noticed (height, voice, movement etc.), endurance People/political skills- working in a crowd, politicking to get order flow Memory skills- have to keep a lot in your head (though less with the hand-held computers) SCREEN: introverts Computer skills - setup, operation, programming etc. Intra-personal skills - working alone, interacting with your computer. Visual skills - its all in what you see (charts, quotes etc.)