whisper number
n.— «Rumor-mongering, of course, has long been the stock in trade of some on Wall Street. Billions of dollars a day are bet on “whisper numbers” and overheard lunchtime chatter. Information is the coin of the realm. Some of it is legal. Some of it is not. Just ask Ivan Boesky.» —“Psst! Hear the Rumor of the Day?” by Andrew Ross Sorkin New York Times July 8, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Enthusiastic book recommendations! Martha’s savoring the biography of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century explorer, polymath, and naturalist who revolutionized our understanding of nature and predicted the effects of human activity on...
Twice a day the River Thames recedes, revealing a muddy shoreline. Hobbyists known as mudlarks stroll the surface searching for objects that have found their way into the river over the centuries, everything from ancient Roman jewelry to modern...