This mid twentieth century film titled "Big Board" presents a detailed analysis of the man power and expertise that goes in to the New York Stock Exchange. The first four minutes of the film are influential in holistically describing the intricate process of making an investment.
The process of making an investment in the 1950's required extreme coordination among the many parts involved in the transaction. Studying how Wall Street used to be run, before the innovation of the technological processes that have since made investing as easy as clicking a button, allows us to see all that really goes on in even the simplest of investments. Before technology, the New York Stock exchange was run entirely by experts that were specialized in extremely specific areas. The floor brokers, specialists, reporters, tickers, and your personal broker all worked as a team to make each transaction possible. These brokers and specialists made all of their transactions on paper, which involved a very careful process of booking these transactions.
The most interesting aspect of investing in the 1950's was the utter necessity of having a personal broker. One could not invest in the stock market as a "lay" person. This made investing a much less universally available commodity than it is today. Though stock brokers are still around, the innovation of computer technologies and programs has lead to a continually growing trend of the average investor, using there own expertise to make their investment decisions.
The New York Stock Exchange is a great example of how the evolution of technology has completely changed the way information is communicated from one another through the business world.
Dan,
ReplyDeleteI thought this video was very insightful. I thought it was funny how they start out by stating that over $12,000 a minute are being traded on the big board. This is very different from today where millions are traded every minute. I also liked how the walked through every person who took part in the trade before it actually gets to the broker and how every trade basically revolves around the specialist whose main job is to keep the floor cleared and organized. Now a days for example a person can make a trade via Etrade and only have to go through a computer program. It is very interesting how much things have changed over time.