squawk box

noun

Definition of squawk box

: an intercom speaker

Examples of squawk box in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 1964, the Bessemer restaurant installed one of the region’s first drive-through squawk boxes; Bob had to teach customers to drive up rather than park and walk to the window. — Eric Velasco, al.com, "Meet the crew who makes Birmingham’s barbecue," 3 June 2019

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More Definitions for squawk box

squawk box

noun

Financial Definition of squawk box

What It Is

A squawk box is a speaker used at brokerage firms and investment banks to help brokers, analysts and traders communicate with each other. Squawk Box is also an early morning business program on CNBC.

How It Works

Squawk boxes come in different shapes and sizes, but they are generally small speakers. Each brokerage firm or financial institution has its own squawk box system. Every morning, the firm's commentator will broadcast information such as the firm's current analyst recommendations on certain stocks, market events, and information about certain block trades. The information is intended to help the firm's brokers trade more effectively, profitably, and efficiently by advising clients in a more timely and strategic manner. Many exchanges run a live running commentary over a squawk box that subscribers pay to listen to.

Other technology is slowly replacing the squawk box, such as secure internet messaging.

Why It Matters

The squawk box is used to essentially conduct a live radio broadcast within a brokerage firm. As such, the information broadcasted via squawk box can reveal sensitive, strategic firm or trading information and is thus usually restricted. For example, if a brokerage firm has a huge institutional block trade to execute, it might use the squawk box to disseminate that information to its brokers so they can facilitate the trade throughout the trading day.

Clearly, the knowledge of a large pending block trade can influence market prices, and so it is important to keep squawk box information confidential. Otherwise, people are prone to front running, which is unethical and often illegal behavior.

Source: Investing Answers

squawk box

Definition of squawk box

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Financial Definition of squawk box

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