Talk:Wall Street

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Contents

[edit] Link

What's with the [1] link? I don't care where the firms are headquartered. What do you want, a list of financial firm addresses?--Jerryseinfeld 22:16, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Looks like a well-intentioned but inappropriate citation. -- Jmabel | Talk 22:28, Dec 29, 2004 (UTC)
Do you see the link? Why is there a link to an MSN search for "manhattan real estate report"?--Jerryseinfeld 22:32, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
As I said, "well-intentioned but inappropriate" -- Jmabel | Talk 22:52, Dec 29, 2004 (UTC)
But what am I supposed to find there? The first result is "New York City (NYC), Hamptons, Palm Beach Real Estate", is that it? What does that mean?--Jerryseinfeld 22:54, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
What more can I say? Yes, we should kill the inappropriate citation. Probably when he ran the search god-knows-when it had something relevant at the top, and unfortunately he pasted the URL of the search, not the relevant page. Kill it. -- Jmabel | Talk 23:46, Dec 29, 2004 (UTC)
An important factor is probably that the NYSE is located on 11 Wall Street.--Jerryseinfeld 22:52, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Clearly. -- Jmabel | Talk 22:52, Dec 29, 2004 (UTC)

-Rivals- Removed the section on smaller international rivals as they were mostly places in 3rd world countries that are mostly unknow and nobody would mention them in the same breath as wall street. (RIP)

[edit] Address

What's their address? ([2]) ([3])

[edit] Proposed move

Copied from WP:RM:

Wall Street (Manhattan) → Wall Street - 99% people accessing this article are looking for Wall Street in New York. The parenthesis unneeded. EdwinHJ | Talk 23:00, 28 July 2005 (UTC)

Rationale: The parenthesis are unneeded and clutter the title of the article. It should be under simply Wall Street with a link to the disambiguation page as now. EdwinHJ | Talk

[edit] Support/Oppose

[edit] Comments

[edit] NPOV notice

I inserted an NPOV notice. A great deal of the writing here is left-wing personal opinions that should be replaced with facts. - Ted Wilkes 15:02, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

Please cite specific concerns. --ChrisRuvolo (t) 15:54, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
Truly. NPOV means nothing without an indication of what is disputed. Either state your issues, or anyone should feel free to remove the notice. -- Jmabel | Talk 05:16, 17 December 2005 (UTC)
Ted, are you saying this POV problem exists after your own extensive edits? Because you've left the tag on. -- Jmabel | Talk 20:57, 17 December 2005 (UTC)
Not having received a reply, I am removing the tag. Please feel free to restore if you believe there is still a problem, but please explain here if you do. -- Jmabel | Talk 22:52, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The War on Prose

The following paragraph was recently cut from the article:

In the morning, restaurants, bodegas, and delis serve coffee and an American-style breakfast as crowds stream by commuter rail or by train. Newspaper stands and convenience stands, as well as workers on foot, hock newspapers to the morning crowd. In the busy lunch hour, professionals, blue-color workers (often employed repairing streets or maintaining the aging buildings), middle class service sector workers, and those filling positions in the many layers of government that have a presence in downtown Manhattan rub shoulders at bodegas, cafes, delis, and restaurants that often emphasize a quick meal. Nonetheless, the area is largely on bankers' hours. Many of the stores are closed by six o'clock in the evening, leaving a few bars and classier restaurants open until later in the evening.

Jmabel | Talk 21:26, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

I removed this passage not because I dislike prose, but because this passage doesn't contain anything which is directly connected with Wall St. It could describe a scene to be found daily in half of Manhattan, and indeed any major US city and or even non-US major cities. It is not especially well written either ("blue-color workers"? "restaruants, bodegas and delis" and then "bodegas, cafes, delis and restaurants" a couple of lines later) and not particularly accurate ("the area is largely run on banker's hours. Many of the stores are closed by six o'clock in the evening." investment banking hours typically run roughly from 9am until 9pm. Perhaps the writer meant "stock market trader's hours"?). I appreciate the thought of someone who wanting to add atmospheric prose, but such writing should at least relate specifically to the subject at hand and also be accurate. Bwithh 23:02, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of name of Wall Street

From the Wall Street article:

The name of the street derives from the fact that during the 17th century, it formed the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement where the Dutch had constructed a crude wall of timber and earthwork in 1652. The wall was ostensibly meant as a defense against attack from Lenape Indians, New England colonists, and the British, but it was never tested in battle. The wall was dismantled by the British in 1699.

From the Dutch Republic article:

While the banking system evolved in the Low Countries, it was quickly incorporated to the well-connected English, stimulating the English economic output. The legacy of this new banking system can still be heard through a well-respected name in the financial world of today; it is a name that is based on these original financial traders: the Walloons made the voyage to New Amsterdam too, and their name is connected to the street where they started their trading: Wall Street — today's largest stock market in the world. The Dutch word for Walloon is Waal (Wall).

Anybody know which is correct? -EDM 01:34, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

The former. I'll take a photo of the plaque at Wall & Broadway when I get a chance. The stock market was started under a tree on the street in the late 1700s. The city wall was from far earlier, see Image:Castelloplan.jpg, which depicts the 1660s. --ChrisRuvolo (t) 15:55, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
Thanks, that accords with my own vague memories which of course are not acceptable sources here. I'll change the Dutch Republic article misinformation. -EDM 20:07, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
plaque on 1 Wall Street at corner of Wall & Broadway
plaque on 1 Wall Street at corner of Wall & Broadway

Plaque reads:

Landmarks of New York
Site of the Wall of New Amsterdam
In 1653 the City of New Amsterdam erected a wall along the nothern edge of town to protect the inhabitants from attack. This wall, five to six feet high, was contstructed of heavy planks laid horizontally and ran from the Hudson River to the East River on the line of present-day Wall Street. Frequently in need of repair, the wall had been abandoned by 1699.
Plaque erected 1963 by The New York Community Trust

I might get a chance to upload a photo later. --ChrisRuvolo (t) 21:27, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I concur with ChrisRuvolo's explanation, that Wall Street was named for the "wall" structure that once delineated the north boundary of the settlement. -Aude (talk | contribs) 21:33, 9 January 2006 (UTC)+
SO IF EVERONE AGREES THAT 'THE WALL' IS WHAT THE STREET WAS NAMED AFTER,WHY DOES IT HAVE THE STUFF ABOUT THE WALOOONES THEN?

ISNT THIS A CONTRADICTION BETWEEN THE TALK PAGE AND THE ARTICLE?,THE HISTORY CHANNEL HAD A STORY ABOUT PIGS ON MODERN MARVELS AND IT SAID THE STREET WAS INDEED NAMED AFTER THE WALL,HOWEVER IT ALSO SAID THE WALL WAS TO KEEP WILD BOARS FROM GETTING IN PEOPLES GARDEN AND TRASH AND STUFF,WHICH SEEMS MORE LIKELY THAN A 5' OR 6' FENCE KEEPING SOMEONE FROM ATTACKING THE CITY,THE INDIANS WERE TALLER THAN THE FENCE BUT WONT CLIMB OVER IT?DOES THAT SOUND RIGHT TO YOU?....ME NEITHER

Photo added. --ChrisRuvolo (t) 15:20, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] WASP references

What is the point of the references to the WASP Establishment and White Anglo-Saxon businessmen? Many significant Wall Street firms (e.g. Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Salomon Brothers, Bear Stearns, etc) were predominantly Jewish until the 1990s. I guess characterizing Wall Street as a bastion of WASP establishment is the highest honor you could bestow upon the Jewish partners of the past at these institutions: complete assimilation, a notion of having made it.

I would take out the references to WASPs, or add some balancing information about Jewish firms. If you wanted to keep the reference, you could for example talk about the distinctions in the past between very WASP-y firms (Kidder Peabody, Morgan Stanley) and very Jewish ones (Salomon Brothers, Lehman Brothers).

Carl NYC 19:21, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree with your point, but don't know enough about the ethnic history of Wall St banks to edit the section (perhaps you could?). Actually, I think the whole Perceptions section is of dubious value. It's overwritten (unsuitable style for an encyclopedia - same writer as the one who wrote a inaccurate/vague passage I took out before? (see "the War on Prose" above)) and is too dependent on presenting stereotypes without references. Bwithh 01:19, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree about the WASP references -- sounds like weasel words. Frankly, I've been working in the investment business for 10 years and never heard anyone say Wall Street is a WASP dominated place, because it just isn't. I agree that some firms were founded by Jewish families, but would anyone feel comfortable writing a list of investment banks and the ethnicity of their founders? I don't know how you'd write that and not have it coming off as racially charged. We might agree that Wall Street has been dominated by white men for generations, but that doesn't separate it from any area of business in the U.S., so I don't see the point of having such a statement in this article. I think the whole "perceptions" section should be deleted as well as other ethnical references.

69.250.194.108 20:25, 24 February 2007 (UTC) Tom G.

[edit] Suburbs

What's the basis for saying that most people who work in the Financial District commute from suburbs, not from elsewhere in the city? - Jmabel | Talk 05:28, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Crash

Shouldn't this page make at least some mention of the Wall St Crash? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.108.87.101 (talk • contribs) 28 August 2006.

Which one? There've been quite a few U.S. financial crashes, probably most notably 1893 and 1929. But I think not. There's really nothing here about economic cycles, etc. It's an article about a particular place, not about economics and the culture of stock exchanges. - Jmabel | Talk 02:46, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Investment Banks Headquartered Downtown

The beginning of the article suggests that Deutsche Bank is the only I-Bank headquartered in the financial district. The last time I checked, Goldman Sachs is still there, though plans for a move to one of the building's around the World Trade Center site is in the works. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 134.48.162.159 (talk • contribs) 8 October 2006.

Goldman Sachs is at 85 Broad Street. The intro paragraph says "elsewhere in lower or midtown Manhattan" in comparison to being _on_ wall street, not in the financial district. Is it unclear? --ChrisRuvolo (t) 03:28, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Further Reference

There is a very good set of articles labelled the ABC of Wallstreet from 1939. It is located at the following url: http://www.oldandsold.com/articles09/wallstreet-1.shtml —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Smithville (talk • contribs) 18 November 2006.

At a quick skim, rather boosterish and really rather more on the topic of stock market than Wall Street ("Wall Street" is used there as a metonym). Anything in particular you think we should draw from it? - Jmabel | Talk 05:12, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Walloons?

While taking an Ubran Studies GIS course, a Dutch classmate pointed me to a map of Manhattan from the Dutch days, and showed me that "Waal" street was written in such a way to indicate that it was the street where all the Walloons lived. The placement of the picket was coincidental, apparently, and the street was originally just named this because it was full of Belgians.

Needs citation, clearly, but I was surprised to not see it mentioned here.

See the discussion under the heading 'Origin of name of Wall Street' above. -- Donald Albury 03:42, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Another major Wall Street institution

The Bank of New York has been headquartered at One Wall Street ever since buying the former Irving Trust and its prestigious location has been cited as one of the motivations for the merger. Is this meritorious of a mention along with Deutsche Bank? 68.53.110.123 22:58, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

If you can find a reliable source that we can reference, then sure. --ChrisRuvolo (t) 02:43, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Remove

Finally, the New York Stock Exchange itself remains the last great holdout where trading is done entirely on the floor rather than electronically. There is, ironically, no longer really any need for Wall Street the institution to be located on Wall Street the street, except perhaps for prestige. Stocks could easily be traded almost anywhere.
NYSE has established a hybrid market so that stocks on NYSE are no longer purely floor traded. Also, there *is* a need for financial institutions to be physically close to each other as this helps face-to-face trading and technical support.

Roadrunner 03:19, 13 May 2007 (UTC)


I apologize, but I fail to see the relevance of your candor to this article. Please save personal opinions for a forum dedicated to the subject. Thanks! (MaytrixInk)

[edit] Basic info?

What are the times that WALL STREE is actually open, I know its till 4, but when does it open... stupid question i know —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.105.234.73 (talk • contribs)

I think you mean the trading hours of the NYSE. That article says: "Since September 30, 1985 the NYSE trading hours have been 9:30–16:00 ET." Hope this helps. --ChrisRuvolo (t) 12:02, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Opening Photo

Is anyone else bothered that the opening photo to this article is not of Wall Street, but of Broad Street? Yes, that's the well-known facade of the NYSE, however this isn't an article on the NYSE, but on Wall Street. 208.120.84.99 01:19, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New Walloons changes

Recent changes by FredrickS (talk · contribs) have added back in the Walloons as the source of the name of Wall Street. This contradicts the previous discussion above. As far as I can tell, I don't see any references that indicate that the street was named for the Walloons, only one that indicates that Walloons were present in early New Amsterdam (a fact that is not disputed). I propose reverting these changes. Comments please. --ChrisRuvolo (t) 13:06, 27 September 2007 (UTC)


YEP ME TOO DUDE,CHANGE IT BACK,CHECK MY COMMENT ABOVE —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.46.49.98 (talk) 19:13, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
I'm working on getting some sources that describe the confusion. Hopefully will update this soon. --ChrisRuvolo (t) 19:29, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Wallen translated from Dutch is rampart, this word is often shortened to Walle which in the right context describes a wall around a town or city. My bet is that Wall street is an English shortening of the Dutch Walle or Wallen. 92.2.27.112 (talk) 17:35, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Barricades

I was under the impression that a substantial portion of Wall Street was blocked off from vehicle traffic with semi-permanent barricades, due to the perceived risk of car bombings. This article doesn't mention that, so I'm wondering if I'm misremembering it somehow. <eleland/talkedits> 07:33, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, that is correct. It is closed to vehicular traffic from Broadway to William Street. --ChrisRuvolo (t) 23:25, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Times square a question for it: What was the first permanent home of the New york exchange? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.216.95.248 (talk) 14:13, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Captain William Kidd

I just happened to stumble across this article well doing a school assignment and my idea is probably dumb but it could be mentioned that the famous convicted pirate/privateer Captain William Kidd lived at 56 Wall Street at the very end of the 17th century (1690's) Duder999 (talk) 22:15, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Is there a reliable source for this? --ChrisRuvolo (t) 23:24, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
I'm not sure the format to put it in but it is a book and here is the information. The book is a non-fiction book and has alot of references but no in text paranthetical documentation so I'm not sure where the author got this exact information.

Title: The Pirate Hunter // Author: Richard Zacks // Publishing Year: 2002 // Publishing Company: Hyperion // Publishing City: 77 W. 66th Street, New York, New York 10023 // Edition: First Trade Paperback Edition // ISBN: 0-7868-8451-7 // Page:Prologue page 4 Duder999 (talk) 01:04, 14 May 2008 (UTC)