NYSE trades, unlike those on some other more "virtual" exchanges (e.g. Nasdaq), always involve face-to-face communication in a particular physical location. There is one podium/desk on the trading floor for each of the exchange's stocks. Exchange members interested in buying and selling a particular stock on behalf of investors gather around the appropriate podium/desk, where a NYSE employee facilitates the negotiations between buyers and sellers. This buying and selling creates a good deal of hustle and bustle, which has been captured in several movies, including Wall Street.
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2 Companies traded at NYSE include 3 External links |
History
The origin of the NYSE can be traced to May 17, 1792 when the Buttonwood Agreement was signed by twenty-four stock brokers outside of 68 Wall Street in New York under a buttonwood tree. On March 8, 1817 the organization drafted a constitution and renamed itself the "New York Stock & Exchange Board". This name was shortened to its current form in 1863.
The crash of the exchange on October 24, 1929 (see Black Thursday) and the sell-off panic which started on October 29 (see Black Tuesday), precipitated the Great Depression. In an effort to try restore investor confidence, the Exchange unveiled a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public on October 31, 1938.
Shortly after the World War I started the Exchange was closed (July 1914) but it was re-opened on November 28 that year in order to help the war effort by trading bonds.
On October 1, 1934, the exchange was registered as a national securities exchange with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, with a president and a thirty-three member board. On February 18, 1971 the not-for-profit corporation was formed, and the number of board members was reduced to twenty-five.
Following a 554.26 point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) on November 24, 1997, officials at the Exchange for the first time invoked the "circuit breaker" rule to stop trading. This was a very controversial move and prompted a quick change in the rule; trading thereafter stops only when the DJIA drops at least 10 or 20 percent.
The first central location of the NYSE was a room rented for $200 a month at 40 Wall Street in 1817.
The NYSE was closed from September 11 to September 14, 2001 as a result of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks.
On September 17, 2003, NYSE chairman and chief executive Richard Grasso stepped down as a result of controversy concerning the size of his deferred compensation package.
Companies traded at NYSE include
External links