FT: 'Investors put trust in people at NYSE'

By: Ray Pellecchia

File Under: NYSE

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In today's Financial Times, a sign of the times: Investors put trust in people at NYSE.

Excerpt:

The explosive growth of electronic trading has meant an ever-shrinking role for the NYSE's group of so-called specialists who match buyers with sellers in certain stocks.

Brokers who facilitate the trading process have also been marginalised as the 105-year-old maplewood floor in downtown Manhattan, which once buzzed with excited traders, has been populated with banks of computer screens.

But over the past six weeks, the participation of specialists has been running at almost three times the year-to-date average, according to analysts and sources close to the exchange. Floor brokers have also seen a sharp uptick in activity and account for 10 per cent of volume, up from 4 per cent at the start of the year.

Larry Leibowitz, head of US markets and global technology at NYSE Euronext, parent company of the NYSE, said: "There is no doubt that specialists and floor brokers have played a greater role amid the volatility."

One trader said: "The combination of hi-tech and hi-touch has been shown in recent weeks to be the best model. People are becoming a little suspicious of dark pools where at times like these there really is not enough transparency."

I think that trend is the investor's friend (the increased participation, that is, not the volatility!). Over the next several weeks, the enhancements to our market model should build on this nicely.

Good morning, all. A bit of historical-trivia perspective, following yesterday's 10-percent spike in the market:

Today in NYSE History (NYSE.com)
29 Oct. 1929 -- "Black Tuesday" - the most dramatic day of the 1929 Crash. The DJIA was off nearly 12 percent on volume of 16 million shares - a record that would stand for decades.