The New York Stock Exchange Begins

Setting the scene

New York merchants traded government bonds under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street after the Revolutionary War; informal auctions needed rules as the young republic issued debt to Alexander Hamilton's Treasury plans.

What happened

The NYSE traces its founding to the Buttonwood Agreement of 1792, when twenty-four brokers signed a pact on May 17 fixing commission rates and giving each other preference in securities sales under a buttonwood sycamore.

Why it still matters

It became the world's most famous trading floor, moving from outdoor curbs to the neoclassical 11 Wall Street building and electronic hybrid trading; the opening bell ritual still signals global capitalism's daily heartbeat.

Background

It became the world's most famous trading floor.