RINGS

The locations on the floors of futures and options exchanges where trades are executed. Rings are the circular arenas on exchange trading floors where traders transfer information about buy and sell orders. They are part of the open outcry system of trading that involves verbal bids and offers and hand signals to convey trading information.

A separate ring is used for each different trading instrument; for instance, the options on a futures contract would typically be in the adjacent ring. The different areas of one pit correspond to the various contract expiration months, with the nearest month taking up the largest section. Workstations around each ring allow exchange members to communicate with pit traders, brokers and large institutional investors. The ring is also called the pit, or the trading pit.

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