NYSE Amex Equities/American Stock Exchange (AMEX)
NYSE Amex Equities, previously called the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), is a New York City-based American exchange. A mutual organization, AMEX was owned by its members. The exchange was called the New York Curb Exchange until 1953. AMEX was acquired by NYSE Euronex on January 17, 2008 for $260 million in an all stock transaction on January 17, 2008. The acquisition was completed on October 1, 2008. Prior to the closing of the transaction, NYSE Euronext announced that it would integrate AMEX with the Alternext European small-cap exchange and renamed as the NYSE Alternext U.S. Back in March 2009, NYSE Alternext U.S. was renamed to NYSE Amex Equities.
History
AMEX’s history can be traced back to the early 19th century when a number of new ventures came up in the railroad and construction industries. However, number of these new ventures failed to meet with New York Exchange Board’s requirement of having at least 100 stocks to trade on the exchange. An association of non-member brokers served the requirements of these new ventures by trading their stocks outside registered exchanges. The brokers were called curbstone brokers since their auctions were conducted on the street.
The stocks traded by curbstone brokers were by and large speculative in nature. In the second half of the 19th century, the curb market expanded with the entry of oil stocks following the discovery of oil. After the Civil War, around 1865, the curbstone brokers began trading in small industrial companies dealing in iron and steel, textiles and chemicals. By early twentieth century, efforts were being made to organize and standardize this fast growing market. The efforts were led by Emanuel S. Mendels and Car H. Pforzheimer. Their efforts led to the formation of the New York Curb Market Agency in 1908. The purpose of the agency was to codify trading practices. Following this, in 1911, the curbstone brokers were operating under a formal constitution. By this time, the brokers were called the New York Curb Market. The curbstone brokers finally moved indoors in 1921 following years of outdoor trading activity. They began trading out of a building on Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan. In 1929, the New York Curb Market renamed itself as New York Curb Exchange. The exchange went on to become one of the leading international stock markets in very short period of time. At one time, the exchange saw more listings of foreign companies than all other exchanges in the U.S. combined. In 1953, the exchange once again renamed itself. This time the exchange was called the American Stock Exchange.
In 1971, Paul Kolton took over as President of the exchange following the resignation of Ralp S. Saul. This was the first time AMEX selected a President from within the exchange. Kolton went on to become AMEX’s first CEO in November 1972. He was also the first ever salaried top executive of the exchange. Kolton was against the idea of merging with the New York Stock Exchange when he was the head of AMEX. Kolton believed that two independent, feasible exchanges are more equipped to new pressures and public requires than a large single institution. Kolton stepped down from his position at AMEX in November 1977.
Despite Kolton’s skepticism, AMEX finally merged with NYSE on October 1, 2008. Following the completion of the merger, the Amex equities business came to be known as “NYSE Alternext US.” NYSE Alternext US was later renamed as NYSE Amex Equities under a re-branding exercise. The old Curb Exchange building, which was located at 86 Trinity Palace, was shut down on December 1, 2008. Following the closure, the trading floor was moved to NYSE Trading floor, located at 11 Wall Street.
Hours
AMEX’s regular trading hours are between 9.30 AM EST and 4 PM EST from Monday to Friday. The exchange is closed on the weekends and on holidays declared by the exchange in advance.