Track the development of the New York Stock Exchange from 1792 to today
The New York Stock Exchange’s origins stretch back to 17 May 1792. On that day a group of 24 stockbrokers met under an old Buttonwood tree on Wall Street and signed an agreement to trade with one another. A constitution was adopted on 8 March 1817, creating the New York Stock & Exchange Board, the forerunner of today’s New York Stock Exchange.
New York Stock Exchange
Founded 17 May 1792
Address 11 Wall Street, New York, NY10005, USA.
Telephone (212) 656-3000
Owner NYSE, NYSE MKT, and NYSE Amex Options are today owned by the Intercontinental Exchange which operates the leading network of regulated exchanges and clearing houses.
ICE’s futures exchanges and clearing houses serve global commodity and financial markets, providing risk management and capital efficiency. ICE net revenue in 2016 stood at US$4,499m, more than triple the level achieved in 2012.
In the 2016 annual report, ICE CEO Jeffrey C Sprecher writes that in 2016, the NYSE extended its global capital raising leadership to a sixth consecutive year, raising $120 billion in proceeds, including the largest US Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the year, Chinese express delivery company ZTO Express.
Best known indices
- Dow Jones Industrial Average
- S&P500
- Fortune 100
- NYSE Composite Index
- NYSE 100 Fund
NYSE companies represent
- 87% of the DJIA
- 77% of the S&P500
- 80% of the Fortune100
Opening hours
- 09.30am to 04.30pm Monday to Friday
- Except holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, George Washington's birthday/Presidents' Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day
Market capitalisation US$26.5 trillion
Number of companies listed 2,400+
Five biggest companies listed as of 8 May 2017
- Berkshire Hathaway
- Exxon Mobil
- Johnson & Johnson
- JP Morgan Chase
- Alibaba Group
Serious fun facts
- Company symbols start with A for Agilent and end with ZTR for Virtus Dividend and Income Fund
- Company names begin with AAC Holding andand end with Zhaopin American Depositary shares.
Fun fun facts
- Ringers of the daily opening bell have included
- Mickey Mouse
- the Pink Panther
- Mr Potato Head
- Darth Vader
- Spider-Man
History
1792 A group of 24 stockbrokers met under an old Buttonwood tree on Wall Street on 17 May and signed an agreement to trade with one another. Stock trading continued on an informal basis for several years in nearby coffeehouses where merchants typically gathered.
1817-65
- The stock market was active enough to encourage the brokers to create a formal organisation
- A constitution was adopted on 8 March 1817, creating the New York Stock & Exchange Board
- The new stock exchange rented a room at 40 Wall Street where the brokers gathered twice a day to trade a list of 30 stocks and bonds
- From the podium the president called out the name of each security in turn, while the brokers shouted bids and offers from the chairs assigned to them
- The number and variety of securities traded at the NYSE steadily increased as America grew
- States and municipalities issued bonds to finance the construction of turnpikes, canals and bridges
- Banks, insurance companies and railroads issued stock to raise the necessary capital to develop and expand
- By the end of the American Civil War (in 1865), more than 300 different stocks and bonds were traded at the NYSE.
1865 The Exchange moved into its first permanent home – on a portion of its present Broad Street site. Increasing trading volumes inspired the NYSE to switch from the old method of trading to a new system of simultaneous trading in all stocks in a continuous market.
1867 The introduction of the stock ticker revolutionised market communications by making it possible to quickly transmit market information across the United States, significantly narrowing the gap between Wall Street and Main Street.
1878 Telephones were installed at the NYSE in 1878.
1886 On 15 December 15 1886, trading volume topped 1 million shares for the first time.
1903 As the stock market continued to grow, the NYSE moved into a new building with a much larger trading floor. The Chinese gong used to signal the opening and closing of trading is replaced by a brass bell.
1922 Trading floor and office space expanded further with construction of the 11 Wall Street addition.
1929 The stock market crash of 1929 focused critical attention on the securities industry and led to a number of important reforms.
1934-50s
- US Congress created the Securities and Exchange Commission to oversee operation of the nation’s securities markets
- The market languished during World War II, but recovered its vitality in the post-war years
- The NYSE undertook educational efforts to acquaint potential investors with the long-term benefits of owning their share of American business
- Stock ownership broadened considerably during the 1950s and 1960s
1960s computer data processing technologies were first applied to the NYSE’s market operations. Electronic capture of trading data and dissemination of market information via high-speed data networks greatly increased market efficiency.
1970s The NYSE launched its SuperDot system which electronically delivered an order from the broker’s office directly to the NYSE trading post and then sent an execution report back within seconds.
1980s-90s Trading floor facilities completely re-engineered to streamline market processes and keep pace well ahead of the NYSE’s mounting trading volumes. A host of new systems, such as the electronic Specialist Display Book, Broker Booth Support System (BBSS), and wireless e-Broker System, provided powerful tools to the NYSE broker.
2008 the NYSE welcomed the historic American Stock Exchange into the world’s largest and most liquid exchange group. This significantly enhanced the NYSE scale in US options, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, structured products and cash equities.
2009-12 The trading floor was again overhauled in 2009-2012, implementing the latest in electronic market technologies and streamlining floor operations.
2012 The Amex equities market was renamed NYSE MKT in 2012. It is designed to support younger, high-growth companies.
2013 ICE acquired NYSE. ICE also acquired a majority stake in APX Endex and launched ICE Endex, a continental European energy exchange.
2014 ICE acquired a majority stake in a continental European clearing house, now ICE Clear Netherlands and expanded in Asia with Singapore exchange and clearing house.
2015 A year of investing
- ICE acquired Interactive Data Corporation, a leading provider of financial market data and analytics
- ICE licensed swap future methodology from Eris
- NYSE invested in bitcoin wallet Coinbase
- ICE acquired Trayport, the leading provider of energy trading solutions for the European OTC utility markets
2016 Another busy year
- A total of 534 new issuers listed on NYSE markets
- NYSE was the leader in capital raising with $120 billion raised in 398 transactions
- NYSE Arca's listed exchange-traded funds had nearly $2.4trn in assets under management, representing nearly 92% of all US-listed ETFs
- ICE acquired Standard & Poor’s Securities Evaluations, Inc. (SPSE) & Credit Market Analysis
- ICE acquired majority position in MERSCORP Holdings, Inc
- ICE launched an expanded ICE Data Services, bringing together proprietary exchange data, valuations, analytics, desktop tools and connectivity solutions
- ICE launched ICE Swap, an innovative platform for trading cleared single name CDS in a central limit order book
- ICE acquired Standard & Poor’s Securities Evaluations, Inc. (SPSE) & Credit Market Analysis
- ICE acquired majority position in MERSCORP Holdings, Inc.
- ICE launched an expanded ICE Data Services, bringing together proprietary exchange data, valuations, analytics, desktop tools and connectivity solutions.
- ICE launched ICE Swap, an innovative platform for trading cleared single name CDS in a central limit order book
2017 NYSE acquired National Stock Exchange and TMX Atrium, a global extranet and wireless information services business. Today ICE has 12 exchanges, more than 12,000 listed contracts and securities. It calculates that it trades 1.8bn cash equities each day. ICE agrees to acquire the Global Research division’s index platform from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
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- Major milestones on way to modern stock markets
Top ten stock exchanges of the world
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- NASDAQ (originally the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation exchange)
- London Stock Exchange (LSE)
- Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE)
- Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE)
- Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK)
- Euronext
- Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE)
- Toronto Stock Exchange (TMX)
- Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB)