How old is the ny stock exchange

The truth is, due to advancements in technology, very little of the trading done on Wall Street is actually done on the trading floor itself. You just need to talk with someone who knows it, like one of our Wall Street insiders.

What started out with just 24 men has grown exponentially in the past years. When the stock exchange was first started, it was a private company, and the privilege to trade on the floor had to be bought. The price varied, usually influenced by the strength of the U.

If the U. However, the stock exchange went public back in , which ended the sale of memberships and seat holders were forced to sell their seats. Even though visitors to the stock exchange are unable to go inside, seeing the building from the outside is more than worth the trip downtown.

Post, who designed both public buildings and private residences. He won the competition with the requirement that the new building have more trading space and more light. Ward also designed the famous statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall. It was crafted in marble and weighed around 90 tons, but after a few decades, began to threaten the integrity — ironic, that — of the whole building. The Venetians were the leaders in the field and the first to start trading securities from other governments.

In the s, Venetian lenders would carry slates with information on the various issues for sale and meet with clients, much like a broker does today. According to our research , Belgium boasted a stock exchange as far back as in Antwerp.

Brokers and moneylenders would meet there to deal with business, government, and even individual debt issues. It is odd to think of a stock exchange that dealt exclusively in promissory notes and bonds , but in the s there were no real stocks. There were many flavors of business-financier partnerships that produced income as stocks do, but there was no official share that changed hands.

In the s, the Dutch, British, and French governments all gave charters to companies with East India in their names. On the cusp of imperialism's high point, it seems like everyone had a stake in the profits from the East Indies and Asia except the people living there. Sea voyages that brought back goods from the East were extremely risky—on top of Barbary pirates, there were the more common risks of weather and poor navigation.

To lessen the risk of a lost ship ruining their fortunes, ship owners had long been in the practice of seeking investors who would put up money for the voyage—outfitting the ship and crew in return for a percentage of the proceeds if the voyage was successful.

These early limited liability companies often lasted for only a single voyage. They were then dissolved, and a new one was created for the next voyage. Investors spread their risk by investing in several different ventures at the same time, thereby playing the odds against all of them ending in disaster. When the East India companies were formed, they changed the way business was done. These companies issued stock that would pay dividends on all the proceeds from all the voyages the companies undertook, rather than going voyage by voyage.

These were the first modern joint-stock companies. This allowed the companies to demand more for their shares and build larger fleets. The size of the companies, combined with royal charters forbidding competition, meant huge profits for investors. Because the shares in the various East India companies were issued on paper, investors could sell the papers to other investors.

Unfortunately, there was no stock exchange in existence, so the investor would have to track down a broker to carry out a trade. In England, most brokers and investors did their business in the various coffee shops around London.

Debt issues and shares for sale were written up and posted on the shops' doors or mailed as a newsletter. The British East India Company had one of the biggest competitive advantages in financial history—a government-backed monopoly. When the investors began to receive huge dividends and sell their shares for fortunes, other investors were hungry for a piece of the action. The budding financial boom in England came so quickly that there were no rules or regulations for the issuing of shares.

The South Seas Company SSC emerged with a similar charter from the king and its shares, and the numerous re-issues, sold as soon as they were listed.

Before the first ship ever left the harbor, the SSC had used its newfound investor fortune to open plush offices in the best parts of London. Encouraged by the success of the SSC—and realizing that the company hadn't done a thing except for issue shares—other "businessmen" rushed in to offer new shares in their own ventures.

Some of these were as ludicrous as reclaiming the sunshine from vegetables or, better yet, a company promising investors shares in an undertaking of such vast importance that they couldn't be revealed. They all sold. Before we pat ourselves on the back for how far we've come, remember that these blind pools still exist today.

Inevitably, the bubble burst when the SSC failed to pay any dividends on its meager profits, highlighting the difference between these new share issues and the British East India Company. The subsequent crash caused the government to outlaw the issuing of shares—the ban held until The first stock exchange in London was officially formed in , a scant 19 years before the New York Stock Exchange.

Whereas the London Stock Exchange LSE was handcuffed by the law restricting shares, the New York Stock Exchange has dealt in the trading of stocks, for better or worse, since its inception. Formed by brokers under the spreading boughs of a buttonwood tree , the New York Stock Exchange made its home on Wall Street. The exchange's location, more than anything else, led to the dominance that the NYSE quickly attained.

It was in the heart of all the business and trade coming to and going from the United States, as well as the domestic base for most banks and large corporations. Now it refers to the businesses directly related to stock exchanges and the financial markets, and even more broadly, big business and investing in the United States.

In this guide you will find items that look at the history of Wall Street. Also, given the importance of the specific stock exchanges, we have also included some general titles as well as material that will look at several of the larger exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and the NASDAQ. We have included older items which can provide a different perspective on Wall Street than we have now, by providing insight into how previous generations viewed Wall Street.

Search this Guide Search.