New York Stock Exchange History

The New York Stock Exchange history is a colourful one starting with it's formation under the Buttonwood Tree in 1792 to the Dow breaking 10,000 in 1999.

Here are some facts about members and member firms throughout NYSE history:

Highest price paid for a membership: $4,000,000 on December 01, 2005

Lowest price paid for a membership: $2,750 in 1871

First member firm to incorporate: Woodcock, Hess & Co., Inc., 1953

First member firm to go public: Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, 1970

First member firm to be listed on the NYSE: Merrill Lynch, 1971

Watch This Free Stock Trading Training Video As the 20th century dawned, the NYSE was firmly established as one of America’s preeminent financial institutions. Trading in listed stocks had tripled between 1896 and 1899 and would nearly double again by 1901.

More space was clearly needed, the market was expanding. So the Exchange invited eight of New York City’s leading architects to join in a competition to design a grand new building.

The Exchange chose the neoclassic design of architect George B. Post. Today, the Exchange building is considered one of Post’s masterpieces and is a New York City and American national landmark.

Of course, one of the most important events in the New York Stock Exchange history happened in 1929 when the 'Great Depression' and stock market crash occured. It is a subject about which I have done quite a lot of reading and find fascinating. If you plan to understand crowd behaviour or human psychology, it is simply unmissable!

Stock prices fell sharply on October 24 1929, Black Thursday, with record volume of nearly 13 million shares. Five days later, the market crashes on volume of over 16 million shares which is a level not to be surpassed for 39 years. On September 3 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its 1929 peak of 381.17.

On October 29, Black Tuesday, prices fall sharply and the stock market crashes. This crash produces a record volume of nearly 16 million shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls more than 11 percent.