Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX), now known as NASDAQ OMX PHLX, is the oldest
stock exchangeA stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, founded in 1790. It is now owned by NASDAQ OMX and located at 1900 Market Street, in Center City Philadelphia.
History
Over its 200 years the exchange has had various titles and has been located in various buildings around Philadelphia.
Founded in 1790 as the "Board of Brokers," it was located at the Merchants Coffee House, now known as the City Tavern, at the corner of Second and Walnut Streets.
In 1831, Stephen Girard’s Bank had formed the "Philadelphia Merchant’s Exchange Company" to erect a new building to house the Board of Brokers and other groups. The Board of Brokers moved into the
Merchants Exchange BuildingBuilt between 1832 and 1834, the Merchants' Exchange Building, is located on the triangular site bounded by Dock Street, Third Street, and Walnut Street. This monumental office building, designed by architect William Strickland, operated as a brokerage house in the nineteenth century...
at 3rd and Dock Streets in 1834 following a fire at the coffee house.
In 1875, the Board of Brokers changed its name to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
In 1876, the exchange moved to the rear of the Girard Bank Building, formerly the
First Bank of the United StatesThe First Bank of the United States is a National Historic Landmark located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania within Independence National Historical Park.-Banking History:...
. It stayed there until 1888.
From 1888 to 1902, the exchange moved to the Drexel Building which was located near Fifth Street and Chestnut.
Between 1902 and 1912, the exchange returned to the
Merchants Exchange BuildingBuilt between 1832 and 1834, the Merchants' Exchange Building, is located on the triangular site bounded by Dock Street, Third Street, and Walnut Street. This monumental office building, designed by architect William Strickland, operated as a brokerage house in the nineteenth century...
.
In 1913, it moved to a building at 1411 Walnut Street, now a national landmark.
In 1951, the exchange moved to the Central Penn Bank Building at 1401 Walnut Street. It stayed there until 1966 when it moved to a building (currently the Sofitel Hotel) at 17th and Sansom.
In December 1968, in response to a fiscal crisis, Philadelphia imposed a $0.05 per share stock transfer tax for all transactions on the PHLX. On January 2, 1969, the PHLX moved its trading floor to an office building, then known as the Decker Building, just across a street from the city boundaries in
Bala CynwydBala Cynwyd is a community in Lower Merion Township which is located on the Main Line in southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at US Route 1 . It was originally two separate towns, Bala and Cynwyd, but is commonly treated as a single community...
to avoid the tax. In February, a court ruled that the tax was illegal, and the PHLX moved its trading floor back to its headquarters in the city.
In 1981, the exchange moved to its current location at 19th and Market.
The exchange merged with the Baltimore Stock Exchange in 1949, the
WashingtonWashington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Stock Exchange in 1954, and the
PittsburghPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
Stock Exchange in 1969.
On October 22, 1981, trading was halted on both the
Chicago Board of TradeThe Chicago Board of Trade , established in 1848, is the world's oldest futures and options exchange. More than 50 different options and futures contracts are traded by over 3,600 CBOT members through open outcry and eTrading. Volumes at the exchange in 2003 were a record breaking 454 million...
and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange after anonymous callers said bombs had been placed in those buildings.
In 2005, a number of large financial firms purchased stakes in the exchange as a hedge against growing consolidation of stock trading by the
New York Stock ExchangeThe New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
and
NasdaqThe NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
. These firms—
Morgan StanleyMorgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
,
CitigroupCitigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
,
Credit Suisse First BostonCredit Suisse First Boston was the former name of the banking firm Credit Suisse.-History:In 1978, Credit Suisse and First Boston Corporation formed a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture called the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston...
,
UBSUBS AG is a Swiss global financial services company headquartered in Basel and Zürich, Switzerland, which provides investment banking, asset management, and wealth management services for private, corporate, and institutional clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland...
,
Merrill LynchMerrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
and Citadel LLC—collectively owned about 89% of the exchange.
On October 20, 2007,
The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
reported that the exchange was for sale by a group of its shareholders, and was expected to be sold for about $600 million.
On November 7, 2007,
NASDAQThe NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
announced a "definitive agreement" to purchase PHLX for $652 million, with the transaction expected to close in early 2008. On July 24, 2008, the acquisition was completed, creating the third-largest options market in the U.S.
As of 2010, the exchange handles trades for approximately 2700
equityIn accounting and finance, equity is the residual claim or interest of the most junior class of investors in assets, after all liabilities are paid. If liability exceeds assets, negative equity exists...
options, 15 index options, and a number of
currencyIn economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...
options. The PHLX has more than 21.4% United States market share in exchange-listed stock and ETF options trading.
Hours
The exchange's normal trading sessions are from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm on all days of the week except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays declared by the exchange in advance.
Further reading
- Domenic Vitiello with George E. Thomas. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange and the City It Made (University of Pennsylvania Press; 2010) 256 pages
- Book Review (by Thomas J. Walsh) of The Philadelphia Stock Exchange and the City It Made (UPenn Press): http://planphilly.com/book-review-philly-stock-exchange-and-city-it-left-unfinished (www.PlanPhilly.com)
See also
- Merchants' Exchange Building
Built between 1832 and 1834, the Merchants' Exchange Building, is located on the triangular site bounded by Dock Street, Third Street, and Walnut Street. This monumental office building, designed by architect William Strickland, operated as a brokerage house in the nineteenth century...
- Philadelphia Bourse
The Philadelphia Bourse Building was founded in 1891 by George E. Bartol, a grain and commodities exporter. It was modeled after the Bourse in Hamburg, Germany. It was completed in 1895. The architects were G. W. & W. D. Hewitt.-Background:...
External links