NYSE American facts for kids

NYSE American is a stock exchange located in New York City. It used to be known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and later as NYSE MKT. For a long time, it was called the New York Curb Exchange until 1953.

In 2008, a company called NYSE Euronext bought AMEX. They combined it with a European exchange for smaller companies and renamed it NYSE Alternext U.S. Later, in 2009, it became NYSE Amex Equities. Then, in 2012, its name changed again to NYSE MKT LLC.

After a new stock exchange called IEX started in 2016, NYSE MKT changed its name to NYSE American. It also added a small delay to trading, like IEX, to make things fairer.

History of NYSE American

The Early Curb Market

The NYSE American started as a group of brokers who traded stocks outdoors on Broad Street in Manhattan. They were called "curbstone brokers" because they worked on the street curb.

Around 1907, these brokers were pushed out of their usual spot. They moved to the sidewalk outside the Blair Building. The police even fenced off a small area for them on Broad Street.

Trading happened from 10 AM until 3 PM every day except Sundays. Brokers would shout orders for buying and selling stocks from nearby office windows. The deals were then shouted back up to confirm.

Becoming an Organized Exchange

At first, the curb brokers didn't want to be too organized. They worried that if they formed an official exchange, they might lose other memberships.

But in 1908, the New York Curb Market Agency was created. This group started making rules for the curbstone brokers. In 1910, the Curb Association was formed to help keep out bad traders.

The curb exchange was often seen as less important than the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The NYSE called the curb market a place for "cats and dogs," meaning less important stocks. However, in 1911, the New York Curb Market Association was officially formed. This was the first real organization for the American Stock Exchange.

Moving Indoors

The American Stock Exchange Building, built in 1921.

In 1920, a journalist described the outdoor curb exchange as a "roaring, swirling whirlpool." It was a very busy and loud place.

A group of curb brokers decided to build their own trading building. It was designed by Starrett & Van Vleck and opened in 1921. On June 27, 1921, the curbstone brokers finally moved their trading indoors.

In 1929, the New York Curb Market changed its name to the New York Curb Exchange. It quickly became a major international stock market. It had more foreign companies listed than all other American markets combined.

Modernizing as the American Stock Exchange

In 1953, the Curb Exchange changed its name again to the American Stock Exchange. In 1961, there was a big scandal, and the exchange started to reorganize in 1962.

Edwin Etherington became president in 1962. He and Paul Kolton worked to improve the exchange's reputation after the problems.

By 1971, it was the second largest stock exchange in the United States. Paul Kolton became president in 1971 and later its first chief executive officer. He helped introduce options trading. Kolton believed that having two separate exchanges, AMEX and NYSE, was better than one big one.

In 1977, Thomas Peterffy bought a spot on the American Stock Exchange. He surprised other traders by bringing handheld computers to the trading floor in the early 1980s.

Introducing ETFs

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) first appeared in 1989. These were like baskets of stocks that could be traded easily. The American Stock Exchange played a big role in developing them.

In 1993, the American Stock Exchange introduced the first widely successful ETF, called Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts (SPDRs), or "Spiders." This fund became the largest ETF in the world.

Later, other companies like Barclays and State Street Global Advisors introduced more ETFs. These included ETFs for different sectors of the market and even for foreign markets, making it easier for regular investors to access them.

Merging with NYSE

Until 2003, AMEX was the only U.S. stock market where you could still use hand signals to place buy and sell orders.

In October 2008, NYSE Euronext bought AMEX for $260 million. The American Stock Exchange then merged with the New York Stock Exchange on October 1, 2008.

After the merger, the AMEX trading floor moved to the NYSE Trading floor at 11 Wall Street. The old Curb Exchange building at 86 Trinity Place closed its doors.

The name changed several times after the merger: first to "NYSE Alternext US," then "NYSE Amex Equities" in 2009, and finally "NYSE MKT LLC" in 2012.

In 2016, a new exchange called IEX got approval to operate. It used a small delay in trading. In response, on July 24, 2017, NYSE MKT was renamed NYSE American. It also added its own 350-microsecond "speed bump" for trading small and mid-sized companies.

What NYSE American Trades

NYSE American trades many different financial products, including:

• Stocks: Shares of companies.
• Options: Contracts that give you the right to buy or sell a stock at a certain price.
• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs): Baskets of investments that trade like stocks.
• Structured Products: Special investments created by banks.
• Warrants: Similar to options, giving the right to buy a stock.

Images for kids

• 

  The text reads: "On June 27, 1921, the curbstone brokers moved from their outdoor Market on Broad Street to establish on this site the indoor securities market that became the American Stock Exchange."

• 

  2004: Vice Adm. Gary Roughead, right, rings the opening bell at the American Stock Exchange, during the 17th Annual Fleet Week in New York

• 

  Old American Stock Exchange Building 2009

See also

In Spanish: American Stock Exchange para niños

• NYSE Arca Major Market Index
• Microcap stock
• Economy of New York City
• List of stock exchanges in the Americas
• List of stock exchange mergers in the Americas
• Consolidated Tape System