New York Stock Exchange Description
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the oldest stock exchange in the U.S. and the largest in the world when measured by the total market capitalization of the listed stocks. Commonly known as the "Big Board" the New York Stock Exchange is the listing place of many of the U.S. and even world's largest companies.
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History
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The New York Stock Exchange traces its history to the signing of the Buttonwood Agreement on Wall Street, New York in 1792. The New York Stock & Exchange Board was formed in 1817 formulating a set of rules for the exchange. The specialist system was initiated on the exchange in 1871. In 1903 the NYSE moved to its current building and started using the trading floor still in use today. A system to route and fill small orders electronically was started in 1976 and automated trading was expanded in 2004. In 2006, the NYSE ceased to be a member-owned organization and became a public company with stock trading on the NYSE under the symbol NYX.
Function
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The NYSE allows the orderly trading of stocks between buyers and sellers. Investment firms that are members of the exchange have floor traders that work on the stock exchange to buy and sell shares for the member firms' customers. The NYSE uses a specialist system to help support the market for the each stock traded on the exchange. Specialists bring together buyers and seller stocks and will act as the focus of all trading in their assigned stocks. Much of the trading on the NYSE is done electronically, but the roles of floor trader and specialist still function, live and electronically.
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Size
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Approximately 2,600 companies have their stocks listed on the NYSE. About 500 of the listed companies are non-U.S. corporations. Also listed on the exchange are preferred shares, closed end funds and exchange traded funds--ETFs. According to the World Federation of Exchanges, at the start of 2010 the total market capitalization of the stocks listed on the NYSE was $11.8 trillion. The next largest stock exchanges in the world, Tokyo and the NASDAQ, had total market capitalizations of $3.3 trillion each.
Time Frame
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The New York Stock Exchange is open from 9:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, except holidays. The NYSE has been using this schedule since 1985. The stock market open and close is important to investors and traders. Even though after hours trading in NYSE listed stocks exist, the majority of trading and price changes occur during the market hours.
Identification
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The NYSE building at 8 Broad Street near the corner of Wall Street in New York City is one of the most historical buildings in the U.S. The neoclassic design by George B. Post was the winner of a competition between New York's top architects. The trading floor measures 140-by-109 feet and has marble walls 72 feet high. The entire front wall of the trading floor facing Broad Street is glass and measures 96 feet long by 50 feet high.
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References
- Photo Credit new york stock exchange image by Gary from Fotolia.com
