noun General Slang

Fat finger

FAT FING-ger · noun · finance

A typo on the trading keyboard that fires off the wrong size, price or ticker.

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Definitions

1

A keying mistake by a trader, hitting the wrong digit or an extra zero and accidentally sending an order for the wrong amount, price or instrument. Fat-finger trades have triggered flash crashes and cost banks hundreds of millions in seconds.

“Someone sold 600,000 shares instead of 60,000, classic fat finger, the stock gapped 8% in a minute.”
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2

Used as a verb: to mistype an order or input. Has bled out of trading into general tech-speak for any clumsy keyboard slip.

“I fat-fingered the limit price and bought the whole offer.”
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3

An error where an order is placed with the wrong amount, price, or asset due to a typo, sometimes moving the market dramatically.

“That flash wick down was probably a fat finger on a big sell order.”
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Fat finger In A Sentence

Someone sold 600,000 shares instead of 60,000, classic fat finger, the stock gapped 8% in a minute.
I fat-fingered the limit price and bought the whole offer.

Origin & Usage

Traditional trading slang for input errors, applied in crypto markets.

Variants fat-fingerfat fingeredfat-fingered
Tags #finance#wall-street#trading#error

People Also Ask

What is a fat finger in trading?

It's an order placed with the wrong amount, price, or asset because of a typo, and it can sometimes move the market dramatically.

Where does the term fat finger come from?

It's traditional trading slang, evoking clumsy fingers hitting the wrong keys, and it carried over into crypto markets.

Can a fat finger crash a price?

Yes — a large mistyped sell order can cause a sudden 'flash wick' down before the market recovers, which is often blamed on a fat finger.

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