On
17 May 1792, under the shade of a buttonwood/sycamore tree in lower Manhattan,
24 stockbrokers signed an agreement establishing the rules for buying and
selling bonds and shares of companies.
In so doing, they established the New York Stock & Exchange Board,
later (and better) known as the New York Stock Exchange.
To accommodate rapidly-expanding trading
activity in the early 20th Century, the NYSE moved into its current national
landmark location at 18 Broad Street - made all the more special at the time
for having air conditioning, several dining rooms, an emergency room with an
in-house physician, and a number of
commissioned sculptures that were once marble, but have since been replaced by
lead-coated replicas weighing 10 tonnes.
Bells were first used at the NYSE when continuous trading was introduced
in the 1870s. These days, the beginning
and end of each day's trading is signalled with the flick of a single switch
that rings four bells in unison.
Did you know that the
most expensive stock currently being traded on the NYSE - or in any other
market in the world, for that matter - is with Warren Buffet's company,
Berkshire Hathaway? Each share is worth more
than $120,000 (USD) and a few shares are bought or sold every 5 minutes!
