They spoke in academic tones, trading theories about the patterns of "housed thinking".
Any investor can use a cellular phone to reach a broker's Touch-Tone trading system (or a human, if you can imagine).
Mr. Constant has an acute sensitivity to instrumental sonorities: the work begins with sustained, soft high tones traded between the violin and a solo clarinet, then picked up by other winds and strings, to create an unearthly effect as fresh as anything produced electronically.
Schwab is a standout here, claiming its automated phone system can handle 800,000 touch-tone trades a day, twice the company's alltime phone-trading peak.
Asia set the tone for trading early in the day.
Analysts said Friday's government report on employment, which usually adds a cautious tone to trading, would return to the forefront but took a back seat to gyrations in equities yesterday, as it did in Monday's session.
European markets fell on Wednesday as more lackluster earnings, this time from the automotive and banking sectors, set the tone for trading.
Economic reports gave Wall Street the jitters Monday as data on personal income and consumer spending set the tone for trading.
Looking ahead, eBay ebay and Compaq should set the tone for trading tomorrow in anticipation of the two companies' earnings reports, slated for after the markets close.
"It may not be self -evident that tech shares should surge on a rate cut, but the tech sector is seen as a bellwether for the whole market and sets the tone for trading," says Hogan.
It is no magic formula, but Mr. Zoellick is betting that a subtle change in the "tone of trade" can provide the lift needed to get global negotiations off the ground.
