What do the people who go in person to the New York stock exchange actually do? Especially with online trading and information everywhere?
In: Economics
I think fundamentally the floors of stock exchanges exist for social reasons. Some have started to close but others like NYSE remain quite active. It is a status symbol to have a seat on the floor of the NYSE even if it’s of limited use
It basically comes down to:
Why do people still go to the casino if they can play poker on line?
It’s more fun to gamble in person.
There is nothing that happens on the floor these days that doesn’t happen a thousand times a day electronically but you can still go make trades with a human being if you want. These trades may involve more elaborate financial instruments than shares of single stock (but you can do that electronically too). Also one actual reason to be on the floor is that it is a forum for discussing investments. Although you get a much larger forum on a Bloomberg Terminal. Still talking to a person face to face is way more efficient than messaging.
Edit: typis
Edit 2:
A Bloomberg Terminal is a program that ever trader uses. It’s a news feed, stock ticker, spreadsheet, messaging app, and trading platform all in one program. It was designed in the 1980s by Mike Bloomberg and it’s UI has never been updated, and looks as terrible as it’s designer (although there are new front ends you can plug it into). It costs $20,000+ a year and is the reason Bloomberg is a billionaire.
Latest Answers