New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest stock exchange in the world, although its trading volume was exceeded by that of NASDAQ (historic comparison graph {pdf}) during the 1990s. Total market capitalization of the NYSE is five times that of NASDAQ. The NYSE agreed to merge with the fully electronic stock exchange Archipelago Exchange in late April 2005. New York Stock Exchange, Inc has its main building located at 18 Broad Street, at the corner of Wall Street, on the south side of Wall Street, in New York City, New York, U.S.

Quick facts

• NYSE is home to some 2,800 companies valued at nearly $20 trillion in global market capitalization. As of July 2004, all but two of the thirty companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average were listed on the NYSE, the exceptions being Intel and Microsoft.
• The exchange opens for trading at 9:30 EST and closes at 4:00 PM. However, there have been many different trading hours over the years. From 1887 until 1952, the exchange was open from 10 AM to 3 PM. There was even a Saturday trading session from 10 AM to noon that was done away with in 1952. The present trading hours were introduced on September 30, 1985. Extended hours trading was introduced on June 13, 1991 and has since been widely expanded in terms of available trading time.
• The exchange installed its first ticker in 1867 and telephones were first seen in the exchange in 1878.
• The NYSE first got electric lights in 1883.
• The frequently seen electronic display boards mounted on the walls of the exchange were first installed in 1966, along with radio pagers.
• A highly technical wireless data system increasing the speed in which trades were executed was introduced in 1996. This allows for trading to be done with hand-held laptop-like computers carried by the floor traders.