Basics of Trading

„The human element in the age of algorithmic and high-speed finance: an introductory class with practical exercises. No skills required. Dedication expected."" In this class, I taught the participants how to produce „market moods“. The instruction material was an alphabet of affective gestures used by traders in the stock exchange today. 120 gestures were laid out on tables as A4 prints. I had collected these photographs from online and print press where they are used to depict the mindset or feelings of the „market“. During the class I gave the participants different group and pair exercises to practice the gestures and delivered a short lecture on the algorithmization and computerization of the financial markets.