Talk:New York Stock Exchange

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[edit] 1914 NYSE CLOSURE

I am reading a book I stumbled on to at a used book sale entitled "Road to War: America 1914-1917" published in 1935 by New York Herald Tribune correspondent Walter Millis. It is there that I have learned for the first time that NYSE in 1914 had its longest closure-far longer than all the others combined-of 4 1/2 months, although the author states that a vibrant street market on the sidewalk outside the exchange's closed doors quickly emerged.

Your brief comment on this indicates that the exchange reopened in late November 1914 after having been closed since late July (in order to prevent panic selling of Euro stocks according to another source) initially to allow limited trading in bonds and then on a full service basis in mid-December 1914. The part about initial bond trading, however, is accompanied by the comment that this was done to aid the war effort, a statement that only the passage of almost a century, makes it seem not as politically loaded as it should be. Moreover, the first Allied War Loan was not floated privately until late September 1915 via the House of Morgan so the bonds traded could not have been European War bonds, although Morgan had been acting as the purchasing agent for the British's non-munitions purchases in a context, due to the British Navy's supremacy on the seas and its blockade of Central Powers shipping, that favored one side from the get-go and was in fact a contentious political issue at the time itself, during the period of what is described as Colonel House's clownishisly naive peace feelers and shuttle diplomacy.

Why is this significant? Because America was neutral in 1914 and did not enter the war until April 1917. In fact, Millis' book-an example of the isolationaist sentiment of the 30s, but nonetheless a brilliant work-sort of the "Best and the Brightest" of WW1 by someone who lived through it, talks about the ambiguoius and conflicted sentiment in this country, even among key policy players and how Americans-even those in high places like Wilson and Colonel House (Wilson's central advisor based in the White House and a precursor-and sadly also a caricature-of the Kissinger like "national security advisor") were naively manipulated like stereotypical American rubes by the British authorities in a situation that was not at all akin to that faced in the Second World War. Secretary of State of William Jennings Bryan, however, to his everlasting credit, believed in scrupulously adhering to neutrality and filed a formal protest against British violations of American neutrality in January 1915 in the context of the devastating impact on American business due to the loss of the German and Austro-Hungarinan markets particularly that for cotton.

As a matter of fact, notwithstanding substantial pro-British sentiment across the board, the prospect of us joining the war on the side of the Germans on a limited basis as we did with Napoleon in 1812 in order to defend our shipping rights was not an incredible option at least prior to the Lusitania (RMS Lusitania) episode of May 1915 (another story). Germany in WW1 was not the Third Reich, it was a constitutional monarchy like Britain with vibrant opposition parties that voted for the war during the patriotic hysteria of 1914. Britain, saddled with an increasingly Junker like aristocracy of its own, presided over the largest empire in human history that ruled over places as disparate as India and Ireland with less than kid gloves.

Most ironically, many of the German-Americans in this country at the time were Jewish who hewed to their loyalty to the Fatherland. Jacob Schiff, for example, a stereotypical top-hatted Jewish capitalist refused to join with Morgan, a rabid anti-semite, in floating the Allied bonds. (see also, "House of Morgan" by Ron Chernow). Why, not just because it violated neutrality but because-and we should never forget this-one of the "Allies" was Tsarist Russia, the most autocratic, feudal and viciously anti-semitic regime in Europe at the time with vicious lynch-mob like massacres of Jews called "pogroms" being a feature of their culture and history, a regime Schiff abhored the prospect of aiding.

Consequently, Lord Grey ranted and raved against "Schiff and the Jews of Kuhn-Loeb" that were standing in the way of his bringing the U.S. into the war, a task that was made easy from the beginning by the British Navy's severing of the German and Austrian trans-atlantic cables, British businesses' ownership of the neutral cables and the fact that most U.S. papers' European bureaus were based in London and often staffed heavily by English people causing most US news, already Allied skewed, to go through the British censor. Thus the gross exagerrations-and even outright fabrications-about German atrocities in Belgium etc.

In conclusion and with apologies for the extended polemic, if anyone has more information about the 1914 closure I would appreciate its being posted. Thank you, Tom Cod


The April 2005 announcement was of the intent of NYSE and ARchipelago to merge, and separately for the new entity to become a public, for-profit company. This merger is subject to law suits, and regulatory approvals. As of July 2005 NYSE is still a not-for-profit member owned organization. The formal changes will likely take place sometime in 2006.

Leading sentence in para 2: "NYSE trades, unlike those on some other more "virtual" exchanges (e.g. NASDAQ), always involve face-to-face communication in a particular physical location."

NASDAQ is not a 'virtual' exchange, it is a real exchange with read bid and read ask prices. This sentence implies some mock superiority to me. Those that trade on the NYSE do not necessarily do it face-to-face, the technical function of the market isn't necessary toexplain what the market is - perhaps a statement saying the market is technically implemented through a 'specialist', rather than a 'market maker' (like NASDAQ, LSE, etc). Happy to draft a link to 'specialist' v. 'market maker' page (have not found any such article on Wikipedia)... Investopedia explains the difference here (http://www.investopedia.com/university/electronictrading/trading1.asp)


The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is the oldest stock price measure in use and is what the NYSE is best known for.

Removed. What what sense is the DJIA what "NYSE is best known for"? If this claim has any validity, someone absolutely must explain how it is connected to NYSE. --Ryguasu 08:51 Dec 26, 2002 (UTC)

It'd be great if someone could explain how people/companies become an "exchange member", what their rights/responsabilities are, and how the trades they make on the floor translate back to how an individual person's trades through a broker translate into action on the trading floor. I don't know enough about it to explain this myself. --Ryguasu 19:10 Dec 26, 2002 (UTC)

I can't put this encyclopediacally, but:
  • There are a couple hundred seats, that are traded just like stocks. You got a spare US$1,500,000 or so and one could be yours, so you can trade NYSE-listed companies with the big boys (and one or two girls).
    • When I tell my broker to buy me Hasbro, he tells the brokerage's person at NYSE, and he hies himself to the Hasbro specialist broker's booth and buys shares of Hasbro for (he hopes) less than I want to pay for it.
  • As for a company being listed, I don't think there's a quota, but the company has to meet certain standards of solvency and stability.
This is all off the top of my head, and it's not really my field. The NYSE Web site may have more info. --Charles A. L. 20:57, Nov 16, 2003 (UTC)

Removed: "This is the longest number of consecutive business days the exchange has ever been closed in its two-century history." after Sept 11. According to the NYSE's own website, the stock exchange was closed for 10 days in 1873, among others. djmutex 21:11 2 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Since a comprehensive list of companies listed on the NYSE takes up about a dozen columns of tiny print in the New York Times, is it meaningful, useful, or necessary to name a handful here? --Charles A. L. 20:57, Nov 16, 2003 (UTC)

I agree, especially as some of the examples seemed to be picked a bit randomly. I've removed them, but added a reference to the DJIA nearer the top that people can link to if they want examples of NYSE listings. Also tried to address Ryguasu's point above about the link between the Dow and the NYSE being tenuous -- the Dow is supposed to be the list of the 30 biggest listed companies in the US, and while almost every big blue-chip company lists on the NYSE they will always be very much associated with each other. ben 10:03, 18 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] NYSE Controversy

I'm thinking of adding something to this page about the recent criticisms people have been making of the NYSE. The main things I am thinking of are:

  • the specialist's conflict of interest between maintaining an orderly market and making a profit out of it, including the recent SEC settlement with six big specialist firms
  • the NYSE's resistance to electronic trading, and Arca and Instinet's claim that the trade-through rule helps maintain the NYSE's monopoly
  • bit more on Dick Grasso and the compensation committee, plus the board's dual role as regulator and maintainer of a profitable organisation.

Oviously a lot of work needs to go into making sure it remains NPOV by giving the NYSE's arguments against all of these criticisms.

What I'm not sure about is whether to have a separate section about it recent controversies, or to extend the article as a whole and then drop in the issues where appropriate (e.g. explain who the specialist is and what they do, then bring in the conflict). Possibly blending it in would suggest a more NPOV than a separate section, but then again they are pretty big issues and their resolution could end up changing the way the securities industry operates dramatically.

Any thoughts? ben 10:19, 18 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Flag

If someone can add notes about when the ginormous flag first appeared, that would be great. I don't remember ever seeing it in TV footage until after September 11, but it might have been used for a special event or something (4th of July, for instance). From what I can tell, it's not usually there today except for special occasions, but I'm halfway across the continent and it's not exactly on my drive to work (even if I had a job ;-)... —User:Mulad (talk) 06:02, Mar 2, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Opening and closing bell

Something should be mentioned about what time the NYSE usually opens and closes. -- AllyUnion (talk) 07:01, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC) I agree. Is it open on weekends?

[edit] Factual error??

I visited this article after reading this bbc article[1]. There is an inconsistency between them and one have to be wrong. See statements below:

NYSE is the largest stock exchange in the world, although its trading volume was exceeded by that of NASDAQ. That is from wikipedia
The NYSE will now become the world's second-biggest publicly-traded stock exchange by market value, behind Deutsche Boerse. That is from BBC.

[edit] Seat?? What the heck is that?

For historical purpose, a paragraph of ownership arrangement when NYSE was private would be enlightening. This can serve as a good starting point

Also, instead of being owned by its 1,366 members, many of whom rent out their seats on the exchange and can be slow when approving changes, the NYSE will be shareholder-owned.

NYSE members will earn $300,000 (£172,000) for each seat and share 70% of shares in the new company.

I am curious, if a seat is not similar to a share, would it be close to a voting right in co-operatives?


[edit] GALLAGHER'S EVENING EXCHANGE?

I am reading a book about Jay Gould that describes a trading venue on Wall St in the 19th Century known as "Gallagher's Evening Exchange" where stocks would be traded after hours. Does anyone have any further information about this? In addition, there is discussion of NYSE trading on the "Open Board" and "Closed Board" at that time. The only reference to it online that I could find follows below. Tom Cod 21:54, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

______________

"The first new exchange to emerge after the start of the Civil War was the Public Stock Board. Under the leadership of George Henriques, the Public Stock Board opened in late 1862, when it began holding two afternoon sessions. The exchange was located in the basement of 23 William Street, hence it acquired the nickname "the Coal Hole." As with Gilpin's, a group of disgruntled broker/traders left in March 1864 to form the Open Board of Stock Brokers.

Unfortunately for compulsive traders, the Gold Room and the Open Board kept only regular business hours, and even the curb market was only open until about 6:00 p.m. But a lack of daylight apparently did not stop the most determined traders. They simply moved uptown. The New York Times first mentioned evening trading at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in November 1863, although other sources say it started in 1862. Traders probably began massing there in May 1862, about the time that the bull markets in gold and stocks began in earnest.

Perhaps because of pressure from the hotel management to stop trading on the main floor, a broker named Robert H. Gallaher [sic] rented the basement (which the New York Herald later likened to the Black Hole of Calcutta, suggesting massive overcrowding and suffocating conditions) and charged twenty-five cents admission to his new Evening Exchange. Trading began at 5:00 p.m. and went until midnight. Gold coin was traded, as were all the major stocks listed at the NYSE and the Open Board. Stocks were called for bidding one at a time, in the same way as at the NYSE. Gallaher was successful enough that the Times was reporting transactions on a daily basis beginning January 19, 1864. Business grew so fast that in March he moved the exchange to a larger facility on Broadway near the corner of 23rd Street. There are two conflicting views of this location. According to the Herald, it was a "barn-room," but in his book The Big Board, Robert Sobel states that by day it was the Republican party headquarters. Gallaher claimed that the location could accommodate 1500 people. This move was temporary, as the Evening Exchange moved to 164 Fifth Avenue in June, and then back to Broadway and 23rd Street in November. Gallaher finally erected a building at Fifth Avenue and 24th Street, which was completed by April 1865.

Gallaher was preparing to organize his Evening Exchange into a joint-stock company when the combined efforts of the NYSE, the Open Board and the Gold Room forced him out of business by denying their own members access to the Evening Exchange. The primary catalyst for the action against the Evening Exchange was the failure of the private banking firm of Ketchum, Son & Co. on August 15."

-"Sleepless in New York" by Tom Kalinke, Museum of Financial History

[edit] Nonsense

Something is clearly wrong in the first part of the article. A lot of nonsense in there. I have no time to fix it :/ Jobjörn 10:32, 17 May 2006 (UTC)


[edit] High trade failure rate of the NSE

Now I've recently heard in work that the NSE's older auction style system of trading is responsible for a failure rate hich can be as high as 20% and that all of this can be attributed to human error which would be eliminated if it switched to an electonic trading platform such as that used in the UK. does anyone know anything about this? - BTW, when i say "i heard in work" i mean in a seminar in work, not off the office bore in the canteen so i guess it must have a basis in fact?


[edit] 1817-1914?

This article provides *no* history of the NYSE from 1817-1914. This article should provide a much fuller history of the institution its supposed to describe.

[edit] Number of companies

So exactly how many companies are in the NYSE? The intro paragraph only says second largest compared to the NASDAQ, but not a number, which would be better. --70.111.218.254 03:36, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trading floor picture

The trading floor picture of the NYSE is from the early 1990's, I happened to notice this because I am a regular viewer of CNBC and that is not how the floor looks today. Can someone please update that photo?! i don't knoooooow

[edit] Operating Hours?

What time does the NYSE trading floor open and close? What days does it operate? --1000Faces 11:38, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Monday through Friday 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time. As part of the Euronext merger, we may see a much longer trading day (16 hours or so.) (At least that's what Thain has indicated) —Joseph/N328KF (Talk) 19:37, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Self-regulating?

Regarding the addition of Category:Self-regulatory organizations, this category will need to be removed shortly, as NYSE is merging its regulatory side with that of the NASD. —Joseph/N328KF (Talk) 19:35, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Financial markets Template

I tried and failed to put the financial markets template into this page, can someone who knows wiki formatting please put it in so it looks decent? 19:27, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Done. --Elipongo (Talk|contribs) 08:45, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unexpected Closurs

Just a thought, but shouldn't information about unexpected closure(s) be included here somewhere, maybe just a paragraph in the history section or something. it was a pretty big deal when Rage Against The Machine caused the closure in 2000. And to my knowledge that was the first (and only?) time it happened... - DevAnubis 11:20, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Another picture of the building

I've uploaded another picture of the building. I think it's better than the ones shown on the page, but I'm biased since I took the picture.

I'd be pleased if you'd want to use it on the page. I haven't added it myself since there are already plenty of pictures and I'm not sure which one to remove to make place for mine.

Gfk 23:21, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Stockmarket-nyse.jpg

Image:Stockmarket-nyse.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 11:30, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

i removed the picture.

Gfk 18:29, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gallery?

Aren't there a lot of pictures when having the actual size of the article in mind? How about a gallery at the bottom? TobykwAn 11:40, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lead paragraph

I find the lead confusing. If Bombay has 4800, NASDAQ 3200, and NYSE 2764 listings, then NYSE will be the third largest by number of listings, but the lead says it is the second largest by this criterion. Have I misunderstood, and could the lead be rewritten more clearly? --Hroðulf (or Hrothulf) (Talk) 22:18, 20 May 2008 (UTC)