24 men, one tree and a short deal in 1792. Here's what a share really is, why a bell rings twice a day and what I saw on the trading floor.
This story explains how a stock exchange works. It isn't advice about buying shares.
## Why Wall Street?
In 1653 Dutch settlers built a wall across the bottom of Manhattan. The path beside it became Wall Street, and the name stuck.
## A deal under a tree
In 1792, 24 traders signed a short deal agreeing how they would buy and sell for each other. The story says they met under a buttonwood tree. That deal grew into the New York Stock Exchange.
## What is a share?
A share is a tiny piece of a company. If 100 friends each give
## On the trading floor
Old films show crowds of shouting traders. Today it's much calmer, because computers do most of the trading in fractions of a second. A bell rings at 9:30 am to start and 4 pm to finish.
## The crash
In October 1929 prices fell fast and everyone tried to sell at once. That helped start the Great Depression, which reached all the way to New Zealand.
Back home, our own exchange is NZX in Wellington, and KiwiSaver puts lots of people's savings into shares around the world.