A Brief History Of The New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange was established in 1792, when a group of stock brokers signed an agreement under a buttonwood tree at 68 Wall Street in Manhattan. The Buttonwood Agreement was a pact that stated that this particular group of brokers would only trade with one another, without the use of auctioneers, and that commissions would be .25%.

The new organization didn't draft a constitution until 1817, when it became known as "New York Stock & Exchange Board." It has been known by its current abbreviated name since 1868.

It is ironic that the NYSE deals with publicly traded company stocks, since it itself did not go public until 2006! Prior to 2006, membership was limited to 1,366 seats; if one wanted to have a vacant seat, one had to purchase it. Those seats are now shares of stocks and can be purchased and traded like any other stock.

The first location for the NYSE was at 40 Wall Street, and the street's name forever after became synonymous with the wheeling and dealing and stock trading which took place there. However, the great New York fire of 1835 destroyed this site, and the operation eventually moved and expanded its trading space on Broad Street. By 1903, the company had outgrown its modest beginnings and built a spacious building on Broad costing upwards of $4 million.

Over the years, this building was added to and others were built to accommodate the need for larger and larger trading floors. Ironically, the current electronic trading age, which was ushered in with the NYSE's merger with Archipelago electronic exchange in 2006, means that less trading space is needed despite the increase in trading activity; today, the newly public company operates in significantly smaller digs.

The stock exchange has only been closed on a working business day twice: once for four months in 1918 after the outbreak of WWI, and again for six days following the attacks against the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Some events of note that happened at the NYSE include:
-- A 1920 bombing on the sidewalks of Wall Street which killed 33 people and injured more than 400. The building itself sustained only light damage and trading business continued. However, the identity of the bombers was never discovered.

-- An event later labeled Black Thursday involved the famous stock market crash which occurred on October 24, 1929; this crash is believed to have been the main precipitating factor which brought on America's Great Depression.

-- Women were allowed on the trading floor for the first time in 1943.

-- Anti-capitalist activist Abbie Hoffman famously protested the activities of the market in the summer of 1967 when he and his supporters made quite a scene in the trading gallery. They showered fake dollar bills down onto the trading floor, disrupting business and creating a furor. Shortly thereafter, the NYSE installed bullet proof glass around the gallery to prevent such events.

The New York Stock Exchange's colorful past proves its endurance in the face of adversity. If you are considering trying your hand at stock investing, it is best to contact a professional stock broker who can teach you how to do it successfully and give you tips on how to best grow your money.