History of the Stock Market
As far back as the early 1500’s stockbrokers have been conducting business on the streets of Belgium. Not too long after that, Amsterdam followed. It was on those streets where shares of East India Company were bought and sold to finance the pilgrims' trip to America.
In the early 1700’s, London’s brokers did their trading at Jonathon’s coffee house, which was later name “The Stock Exchange.”
The stock market became official in this country on May 17, 1792, when 24 brokers formed the first stock market in New York. They met under a buttonwood tree. They originally called this organization The Stock Exchange Office. This was a very exclusive organization, allowing only the elite of New York’s financial community to join. In the early days no women were allowed. The first female member of the New York Stock Exchange was Muriel Siebert.
In 1817, the name was changed to the New York Stock and Exchange. Finally, in 1863, the board changed its name the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Also, that same year they moved into the majestic building at the corner of Wall and Broad streets, where the exchange still does business today.
The NYSE had competition from smaller exchanges both in New York and other cities. One of these groups was called the Curbside brokers, who did their business outside. These brokers would auction off stock as little as one share at a time. The bigger brokers (NYSE) would sell at a minimum of 100 shares at a time. The Curbside brokers would also deal with smaller companies. In 1919, the Curbside brokers finally moved inside. In 1953, they changed their name to the American Stock Exchange (AMEX).
Here are some significant dates of the NYSE:
The Young Investor Webpage is funded in part by a grant from the Investor Protection Trust, www.investorprotection.org