Wall Street Research Paper

The history of Wall Street and its position as Financial Center of US and the World

The Wall Street based New York Stock Exchange is owned by Intercontinental Exchange and regulated by SEC, the Securities Exchange Commission. According to FXCM, New York Stock Exchange boasts a market capitalization of $16 trillion, the largest in the world. As of 2013, there about 1900 companies listed on the exchange, 1500 of whom are US companies. The daily trading volumes averages $169 billion a day. The exchange was established back on 17 May 1792 by 24 stockbrokers based in Wall Street New York City. The stock brokers met under the Buttonwood tree and signed a Buttonwood Agreement, which among other things vouched for the formation of centralized exchange

The telephone communication installed in the building made it easy for investors to speak directly to brokers to discern their trades. The term Wall Street is widely used today to refer to the New York City financial district. The 8 block street runs from South Street on the East River all the way to Broadway. Aside from the NYSE, the other markets based here include NASDAQ, NYMEX and AMEX. According to Stock Market Laws, the history of Wall Street can be traced to 1626 when Europeans beg settling in the lower Manhattan area in NYC. The name is believed to derive from the earthen walls that were laid to mark the boundaries of New Amsterdam

Lower Manhattan is divided into 3 main districts, the financial district, seaport district and south of the World Trade Center. Some of the landmark buildings that dot Wall Street include The Trump Building, 55 Wall Street, Federal Hall National Memorial building, the Deutsche Bank Building and the NYSE building at the corner of Broad Street. In 2008, an estimated indicated that close to 200,000 people were employed by Wall Street firms. Another statistics released in 2006 indicated that close to 10% of the city’s work force and 30% of the tax revenue stemmed from the financial services