The New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange, or “Big Board” is a stock exchange located in New York City in the United States. It is the largest of its kind in the world by far. In 2005, the NYSE became a public entity, after formerly being a private entity. The mother company is now called NYSE Euronext, following a merger in 2007 with the European Exchange.

The stock exchange dates as far back as May of 1792. On this date, the Buttonwood Agreement was signed by 24 stockbrokers in New York on Wall Street. This agreement established the rules of buying and selling bonds and shares of companies. It was named “Buttonwood” after the Buttonwood tree the group regularly met under. This marked the start of the New York Stock Exchange. In 1817, a constitution was drafted and the name was changed to the New York Stock and Exchange Board. Anthony Stockholm was named the first president of the new board.

By 1863, the name was shortened to its name today, The New York Stock Exchange, and was later given the acronym, NYSE. Beginning in 1868, membership was valued in the company. The company was membership-only until April 2006, when it went electronic and public. Before that, you could only join by purchasing an existing seat, which were then limited to 1,366.

In 2005, the NYSE announced its plans to merge with Archipelago in an attempt to reorganize the company into a publicly traded company. On December 6, 2005, they merged with their rival Archipelago and became a for-profit company. In March of the next year, they began trading under the name NYSE. A little while later, they formed the first transatlantic stock exchange, merging with Euronext, a European combined stock market. This formed the NYSE Euronext.

Today, Wall Street is the leading money center in the United States. It has four principal sectors, which are the securities industry, commercial banking, asset management, and