Stock Trading and Other Things

What are those people doing at the stock exchange?

I was just watching "Ferris Beuller's Day Off," and there's a brief scene at the New York Stock Exchange floor. Whenever a scene from a movie takes place there, it always shows a bunch of people in jackets yelling things and holding up different numbers of fingers. Must plead ignorance here: who are these people? Who are they yelling at, and what are they saying? And what are the hand gestures? Just curious!
Very helpful, but what are they yelling and what are the hand gestures?

Public Comments

1. They are traders. Often they show the Chicago Mercantile exchange where they trade energy products, agricultural products and metal products to name a few.

They will buy and sell contracts for delivery of various products to make money and to hedge positions for themselves and their clients.

http://www.cmegroup.com/

On the NYSE they are stock traders. They trade for themselves and for their clients. Today most trading takes place by computer.