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| New York Stock Exchange (Photo credit: inkwellmusings) |
“It was a judgment decision based on the safety of a lot of market participants, especially as the storm seems to be getting more severe,” said Larry Leibowitz, chief operating officer of NYSE Euronext (NYX), in a phone interview. “Given all the emphasis on stability and investor confidence, operating the market that way didn’t seem to serve the public interest. Why do this? To prove we can? That didn’t seem to make a lot of sense.”
Exchanges from the NYSE and Nasdaq Stock Market to those run by Direct Edge Holdings LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Bats Global Markets Inc. in Lenexa, Kansas, will suspend operation. U.S. equity trading is spread across 13 exchanges and dozens of private venues run by brokerages.
‘Primary Concern’
NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) said the suspension would last through Tuesday, “pending confirmation,” according to e-mailed statements. The SEC will stay in communication with the markets as the situation warrants, said John Nester, a spokesman for the SEC in Washington.
Options trading will also be closed, according to Gail Osten, a spokeswoman for CBOE Holdings Inc., which operates the largest equity derivatives market, and Joseph Christinat, a spokesman at Nasdaq OMX.
“It’s an inconvenience, but clearly the safety of the employees and participants in the market is a primary concern,” James Angel, a professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business in Washington, said in a phone interview. “Even if the exchanges can operate totally remotely, people connecting to the exchanges may be battling floods. We ran into the same issue after 9/11 even though Nasdaq and other trading venues could operate. ”
Blizzard, Gloria
The last time the NYSE cut trading hours for weather was Jan. 8, 1996, when a blizzard dropped more than 20 inches on New York City. It last closed for a full day for weather when Hurricane Gloria hit on Sept. 27, 1985. Markets have not closed for four days in a row since the start of 2007 when, following a weekend and the New Year’s Day holiday on a Monday, they shut on Jan. 2 to observe a day of mourning for President Gerald Ford’s death the previous week.
“Everybody wants to get the markets open,” the NYSE’s Leibowitz said. “We all know how important this is and we take the decision seriously. People expect the markets will be resilient and able to operate. The tenet is that the markets should be open if at all possible.”
Workers stacked sandbags in Lower Manhattan while banks and brokerages tested contingency plans, encouraged employees to work from home and prepared to operate with skeleton crews. The trade group representing the bond industry recommended an early close for trading. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s order that subway, bus and commuter rail services be closed starting at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 left many of the city’s almost 170,000 securities industry employees wondering how they would make it to work. ... Continue to read.Exchanges from the NYSE and Nasdaq Stock Market to those run by Direct Edge Holdings LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Bats Global Markets Inc. in Lenexa, Kansas, will suspend operation. U.S. equity trading is spread across 13 exchanges and dozens of private venues run by brokerages.
‘Primary Concern’
NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) said the suspension would last through Tuesday, “pending confirmation,” according to e-mailed statements. The SEC will stay in communication with the markets as the situation warrants, said John Nester, a spokesman for the SEC in Washington.
Options trading will also be closed, according to Gail Osten, a spokeswoman for CBOE Holdings Inc., which operates the largest equity derivatives market, and Joseph Christinat, a spokesman at Nasdaq OMX.
“It’s an inconvenience, but clearly the safety of the employees and participants in the market is a primary concern,” James Angel, a professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business in Washington, said in a phone interview. “Even if the exchanges can operate totally remotely, people connecting to the exchanges may be battling floods. We ran into the same issue after 9/11 even though Nasdaq and other trading venues could operate. ”
Blizzard, Gloria
The last time the NYSE cut trading hours for weather was Jan. 8, 1996, when a blizzard dropped more than 20 inches on New York City. It last closed for a full day for weather when Hurricane Gloria hit on Sept. 27, 1985. Markets have not closed for four days in a row since the start of 2007 when, following a weekend and the New Year’s Day holiday on a Monday, they shut on Jan. 2 to observe a day of mourning for President Gerald Ford’s death the previous week.
“Everybody wants to get the markets open,” the NYSE’s Leibowitz said. “We all know how important this is and we take the decision seriously. People expect the markets will be resilient and able to operate. The tenet is that the markets should be open if at all possible.”
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