Philadelphia Stock Exchange
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) is the oldest stock exchange in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it was founded in 1790. It merged with the Baltimore Stock Exchange in 1949, the Washington Stock Exchange in 1954 and the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange in 1969.
In December 1968, in response to a fiscal crisis, the City of Philadelphia imposed a $0.05-per-share stock transfer tax for all transactions on the PHLX. In response, on January 2, 1969, the PHLX moved its trading floor to an office building--then known as the Decker Building--just across City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd to avoid the tax. In February, a court ruled that the tax was illegal, and the PHLX moved its trading floor back to its headquarters in the city.
On October 22, 1981, trading was halted on both the Chicago Board of Trade and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange after anonymous callers said bombs had been placed in those buildings.
In 2005, a number of large financial firms purchased stakes in the Exchange as a hedge against growing consolidation of stock trading by the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. These firms--Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Credit Suisse First Boston, UBS AG, Merrill Lynch and Citadel Investment Group--collectively own about 45% of the exchange.
The Exchange currently handles trades for approximately 2000 stocks, 1700 equity options, 25 index options, and a number of currency options.
