A Short History of the NYSE in the USA
http://www.thearticleblogs.com/articles/3/1/A-Short-History-of-the-NYSE-in-the-USA/Page1.html
P Johnson
P. Johnson is a stock investment specialist with over 15 years stock investment experience.Writing exclusively for http://www.thearticleblogs.com
By P Johnson
Published on 12/8/2006
There is an old stone building at 11 Wall Street, NY, NY. This often inspires awe and hushed voices. It is the residence of the New York Stock Exchange, the biggest stock exchange in the world (by dollar volume). Futures and fortunes are made and lost here, but how did it get here?
History of the New York Stock Exchange
There is an old stone building at 11 Wall Street, NY, NY. This often inspires awe and hushed voices. It is the residence of the New York Stock Exchange, the biggest stock exchange in the world (by dollar volume). Futures and fortunes are made and lost here, but how did it get here?
It started back in 1792, when 24 stockbrokers signed an agreement called the, "Button wood agreement", outside number 68 Wall Street.
Wall Street, in the south of Manhattan, was named following the wall the Dutch Settlers built to keep the English settlers and Native Americans out, and themselves in. Why Button wood? In the recently shaped country of the United States of America, most investments were in territory. Merchants and brokers frequently traded in coffee houses, if not on the street outside those coffee houses. At that time, in the south of Manhattan, there was a big button wood tree, (or American Sycamore, as it is more generally known) outside one of those coffee houses and beneath which traders and speculators used to meet and do business in a relaxed way. The agreement that began the New York Stock Exchange was signed beneath that Button wood tree.
This contract was just two sentences long, and was in essence a guarantee to just deal with each other and abide by a .25% commission. At that point in time the only securities to be traded were government bonds and bank stocks. The initial stock traded and listed on the New York Stock Exchange was the Bank of New York, New York City’s initial chartered bank.
On March 8th, 1817 the Buttonwood Agreement was formalized and a contract drawn up. The group renamed themselves, "The New York Stock and Exchange Board". The exchanges earliest president was Anthony Stockholm. At this time there were 30 stocks traded on the NYSE. The president of the exchange would shout out the names of the stocks individually, and the brokers would shout their bids from their assigned seats. That is why we say citizens have a "Seat on the exchange". This exercise continued until about 1871. Seats on the New York Stock Exchange are leased or sold by the present owners and not by the exchange it self. In 1817 a chair would cost you about 25 USD. In Dec 2005, one chair sold for 4 million Dollars! The amount of seats on the New York Stock Exchange has grown gradually right the way through the years. In 1868 there were only 533 seats.
1817 was also the year the NYSE established its original home indoors, in a borrowed room at Number 40 Wall Street.
In 1863, the name was abridged to, "The New York Stock Exchange" Two years later, on June 1865; the famed Button wood tree was felled during a storm.
Membership on the NYSE has been extremely valuable since 1868. There are now 1366 seats on the exchange.
The initial ticker was installed in 1867.
The earliest telephones were put in, in 1878.
In 1883, the NYSE got its first electric lights.
The electronic display boards so frequently seen were first put up in 1966.
To a lot of us it appears like the New York Stock Exchange works like clock work and is rarely closed. There were two noteworthy closings of the exchange. The exchange closed for a short time just after the start of World War One, but reopened in Nov of that year. It also stopped just after the Sept 11th attacks on the New York City’s World Trade Centre. It reopened on Sept 17th, 2001.
On Feb 18th, 1971, the NYSE, INC was first incorporated as a not-for-profit Corporation.
The New York stock Exchange is changing once more. In 2005 it decided to get hold of its competitor Archipelago and turn into a for-profit, publicly traded business. As a replacement for selling seats on the exchange, the NYSE will now put up for sale one year licenses to buy and sell on the exchange. There are now over 2700 stocks on the NYSE, together with 453 from 47 different countries.
No matter what changes are in front of the New York Stock Exchange, a number of things appear certain. That the old stone building on 11 Wall Street will carry on inspiring wonder is one of them.
P. Johnson is an investment specialist writing articles for http://www.thearticleblogs.com
Article Source: http://www.thearticleblogs.com
You may reprint this article in its entirety so long as you do not modify the content or resource box.
It started back in 1792, when 24 stockbrokers signed an agreement called the, "Button wood agreement", outside number 68 Wall Street.
Wall Street, in the south of Manhattan, was named following the wall the Dutch Settlers built to keep the English settlers and Native Americans out, and themselves in. Why Button wood? In the recently shaped country of the United States of America, most investments were in territory. Merchants and brokers frequently traded in coffee houses, if not on the street outside those coffee houses. At that time, in the south of Manhattan, there was a big button wood tree, (or American Sycamore, as it is more generally known) outside one of those coffee houses and beneath which traders and speculators used to meet and do business in a relaxed way. The agreement that began the New York Stock Exchange was signed beneath that Button wood tree.
This contract was just two sentences long, and was in essence a guarantee to just deal with each other and abide by a .25% commission. At that point in time the only securities to be traded were government bonds and bank stocks. The initial stock traded and listed on the New York Stock Exchange was the Bank of New York, New York City’s initial chartered bank.
On March 8th, 1817 the Buttonwood Agreement was formalized and a contract drawn up. The group renamed themselves, "The New York Stock and Exchange Board". The exchanges earliest president was Anthony Stockholm. At this time there were 30 stocks traded on the NYSE. The president of the exchange would shout out the names of the stocks individually, and the brokers would shout their bids from their assigned seats. That is why we say citizens have a "Seat on the exchange". This exercise continued until about 1871. Seats on the New York Stock Exchange are leased or sold by the present owners and not by the exchange it self. In 1817 a chair would cost you about 25 USD. In Dec 2005, one chair sold for 4 million Dollars! The amount of seats on the New York Stock Exchange has grown gradually right the way through the years. In 1868 there were only 533 seats.
1817 was also the year the NYSE established its original home indoors, in a borrowed room at Number 40 Wall Street.
In 1863, the name was abridged to, "The New York Stock Exchange" Two years later, on June 1865; the famed Button wood tree was felled during a storm.
Membership on the NYSE has been extremely valuable since 1868. There are now 1366 seats on the exchange.
The initial ticker was installed in 1867.
The earliest telephones were put in, in 1878.
In 1883, the NYSE got its first electric lights.
The electronic display boards so frequently seen were first put up in 1966.
To a lot of us it appears like the New York Stock Exchange works like clock work and is rarely closed. There were two noteworthy closings of the exchange. The exchange closed for a short time just after the start of World War One, but reopened in Nov of that year. It also stopped just after the Sept 11th attacks on the New York City’s World Trade Centre. It reopened on Sept 17th, 2001.
On Feb 18th, 1971, the NYSE, INC was first incorporated as a not-for-profit Corporation.
The New York stock Exchange is changing once more. In 2005 it decided to get hold of its competitor Archipelago and turn into a for-profit, publicly traded business. As a replacement for selling seats on the exchange, the NYSE will now put up for sale one year licenses to buy and sell on the exchange. There are now over 2700 stocks on the NYSE, together with 453 from 47 different countries.
No matter what changes are in front of the New York Stock Exchange, a number of things appear certain. That the old stone building on 11 Wall Street will carry on inspiring wonder is one of them.
P. Johnson is an investment specialist writing articles for http://www.thearticleblogs.com
Article Source: http://www.thearticleblogs.com
You may reprint this article in its entirety so long as you do not modify the content or resource box.