New York Stock Exchange

For many years, more securities were exchanged on the New York Stock Exchange than any other trading floor in the world. This made the NYSE not only the busiest exchange in the world, but also the most prestigious. While the NYSE may no longer be leagues ahead of its rivals, the pictures of its chaotic trading floor will forever be the image of what happens every trading day on Wall Street.

History of the NYSE

The New York Stock Exchange traces its history back to what is called the Buttonwood Agreement of 1792.  In that agreement, twenty-four brokers and merchants decided to trade securities on a commission basis.  In that same year, a total of five securities were traded in New York City.

By 1817, the New York brokers establish a formal organization:  the New York Stock & Exchange Board.  This group laid down the foundation for rules of business conduct that enable the New York Stock Exchange to make today's claim that they are the largest self-regulated organization in the world.

Between the years 1828 and 1835, the volume on the exchange floor increased 50 fold, and average daily volume exceeded 8,000 shares.  By 1863, the New York Stock and Exchange Board adopted the shorter name of the New York Stock Exchange.  Two years later, they moved into 10-12 Broad Street.  This established the corner of Wall Street and Broad as the trading capital of the world.

On December 15, 1886, the NYSE hits another milestone when over one million shares exchange hands that day.  Interestingly, October 10, 1953 marks the last time that less than one million shares are exchanged.

Milestones of the NYSE

Listed below are some of the more intriguing milestones realized by the NYSE over the last 50 years or so:

• 1961 - Average trading volume exceeds 4 millions shares per day.
• 1967 - Muriel Siebert becomes the first woman allowed to become a member of the exchange.
• 1970 - Joseph Searles becomes the first black member of the exchange.
• 1982 - The NYSE hits another trading milestone, when over 100 million shares are exchanged in just one day.
• 1987 - On October 19, also known as Black Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average experiences its largest one-day percentage drop.
• 1992 - The average daily volume on the exchange now exceeds 200 million shares.
• 1997 - On October 27, volume on the exchange tops one billion shares for the first time.
• 2005 - On June 24, the NYSE experiences its largest single volume trading day when over 3 billion shares are exchanged.
• 2005 - On August 3, the highest price ever paid for NYSE membership is now $3 million.  (The lowest price paid was $2,750 back in 1871.)

Merger with Euronext

In what was referred to as a "merger of equals" on April 4, 2007, the New York Stock Exchange finalized its merger with Euronext.  Under terms of the deal, each NYSE share was converted into one share of common stock in the merged company - NYSE Euronext.  As explained by NYSE Group boss John Thain:

"A partnership with Euronext fulfils our shared vision of building a truly global marketplace with great breadth of product and geographic reach that will benefit all investors, issuers, and our shareholders and stakeholders."

Acquisition of the American Stock Exchange

In January 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it was acquiring the American Stock Exchange for $260 million in stock.  The deal was completed on October 1, 2008, and the exchange was re-branded as the NYSE Amex Equities.

NYSE Today

Stocks worth $73 billion are exchanged daily on the floor of the NYSE.  There are currently around 2,300 companies (September 2011) listed on the exchange, with a capitalization of $12.4 trillion.

To be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the company must have in excess of 2,200 shareholders with an average daily trading volume of at least 100,000 shares.  Generally, the company must have a total capitalization of $750 million or pretax earnings in excess of $10 million.  There are several other possible combinations, but a company needs to be very big or very profitable to make it onto the NYSE.

NYSE Holiday Trading Schedule

The following are the holiday schedules for the NYSE in the calendar years 2011 and 2012:

NYSE Euronext 2012 Holiday Schedule

The NYSE Euronext will close early at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, Friday, November 23, 2012, and Monday, December 24, 2012.

NYSE Euronext 2011 Holiday Schedule

New Years' Day (January 1, 2011) falls on a Saturday.  The rules of the exchange state that when a holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is observed, unless the Friday is the end of a monthly or annual accounting period.  Friday, December 31, 2010 is the end of both a monthly and annual accounting period.  The exchanges will be open that day, as well as the following Monday.

NYSE Trading Hours

The NYSE trading sessions are between the hours of 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.  NYSE After Hours runs from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.  The timetable for trading is as follows:

NYSE Hours of Operation

The operating hours listed above are stated as Eastern Standard Time (EST) = GMT-5 / Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) = GMT-4.

The NYSE Floor

By 1901, the current building for the NYSE could no longer accommodate the trading activity taking place there.  The new stock exchange building was designed by one of New York's leading architects, George B. Post, with the intent to have more light, more space, and be more conducive to the trading of stocks.

In 1903, the new Exchange Building at 18 Broad Street is completed at a cost of nearly $4 million.  It was also one of the first buildings in the world to employ air conditioning.  Some of the many features of the building include:

• A trading floor measuring over 15,000 square feet boast a marble wall rising 72 feet above the floor.
• Six Corinthian columns facing Broad Street that remain the symbol of strength and reliability of the exchange itself.
• Two massive window walls measuring nearly 4,800 square feet.
• High tech amenities such as an emergency hospital, and nearly 25 miles of wiring to support the various displays around the floor.

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