Need a GOOD multi-line explanation of "Handles" please.

either points, like s&p is down 5 handles (points), down 50 handles (points)

or price level, like s&p is at a 10-handle (starts with 10- as in 1095), or s&p could be at a 5-handle (500-something). During the crash I think people were saying 90-handle meaning s&p was at 1090, 70-handle (1070). Just a shorter way of saying it without having to say the whole price level.

is that what you were asking?

Full points, as opposed to "pips" which can be whatever unit the thing trades in.

The "handle" can also be the first digit, so a "9-handle" would be a 9xx SPX.

ticks is the same as pips too.

What a ****ed up series of terminology we use every day. I've never really even thought about it before. 10 handle takes longer to both say and type than 1090. [Edit: I guess it is better than "we're trading in the 1000's now."]

Or "we've fallen 2 handles" where "handles" could just be left off and it mean exactly the same thing to everybody.

Yes Bret.

Thanks everyone, but as usual to my brain, it still isn't completely clear.

Expy: Consider it a slang term instead of a defined one.

One handle = one full point.

Also, if you trade down from 1100's to 1000's, you'll hear it used to say "we're now trading a 10 handle" meaning the 1000's. Sometimes you'll hear a new range like moving into the 1070's referred to as a 70 handle.

I guess it's more accurate to say that it's definition is contextually based. You need to know generally where it's trading. Most commonly used as the first, one handle = one full point.

Asi, that helps, -it's contexual...

In the fixed income world, a 6 handle means that the leading digit is a 6.

Maybe it would be better to define it not as plural, but as two different terms.

"Handle" being the first part (or a portion of) the full price. Like pcap's example.

"Handles" being single full points.

Full points. Origin from open-outcry hand-signal pricing where the "dime" price would be shown up high, then the "Penny" digit would be shown lower, as if "pulling down a handle."

Thanks pat. Always a wealth of information.

Thanks for asking the question, Expy. The usage surely seems ambiguous.

What Asi said - the lingo is often as hard to decipher as the market itself.

I'll frequently read something like below from Todd Harrison on Minyanville:

"Spoos trading a 9 handle, N's over S's, beta strong, piggies are red beans in a sea of green, and I-Beam carving out reverse dandruff."

Translation: The S&P 500 is in the 900's, Nasdaq issues are trading stronger than the S&P (broader market), the more volatile names (high beta like Apple, Google, AMZN) are doing well, the bank stocks (piggies) are down, and IBM's chart pattern is forming a reverse Head n' Shoulders pattern (dandruff).

A reality show with such lingo would be hilarious to us traders, though total gibberish to normal people. Wait, the market IS a reality show. My -1% on Friday was reality. I, Shrimpngrits, am a red bean in a sea of green.

Monday let's all be green beans in a sea of red...or bouncing beans in a sea of manipulation...or maybe we should just eat baked beans and cut farts at Goldman.