What percentage of stocks sold/bought/traded on the NYSE is actually done on the trading floor, as opposed to business transacted entirely by computer?
Depending on exactly what you mean the answer might be 0%. Even those on the “floor” of the exchange trade via computer entries. There is no longer a Specialist who sits ready to take orders. There are market makers who have “books” on computers.
That’s an interesting question. Estimates for high-speed computerized trading range up to about 85% of shares sold. But that’s not quite what you asked.
Shares can be transferred a few ways.
- On the floor by the guys yelling.
- By individual brokers electronically.
- By algorithms using high-speed of other programmed responses.
For example, this morning I traded about $1.2MM worth of shares for several clients - no kidding - and entered the orders electronically though my desktop. The transaction was handled through our computer system and sent off to the various exchanges. No human following clicking ‘submit’ was involved. I’m assuming that’s not what you meant by human trading on the floor.
Best guess? A very small fraction. Less than 10%. Maybe much less.
Wow. As a follow up question, does it still make financial sense to keep the trading floor open? Why not computerize everything and save the money that’s used for floor trading?
I suspect not.
<Tevye>TRADITION!</Tevye>
You may be close, actually:
A larger question may be the reason for the NYSE at all:
Goes on to observe that many companies still list on the NYSE to reach a large pool of traders, and make sure regulators are satisfied. They don’t really care about the human interaction.
They are the “premium stock market”
Can you say “cachet”? … I knew you could.
I’d say that’s probably not wrong. I’ve been trading for clients for nearly a decade and have never been to an exchange nor met one of those floor guys.
There are some holds, though. The software is set up to freeze trades once a certain amount of fall occurs during a day. This is to prevent a runaway algorithm loss and slow things down by reintroducing humans into the equation. Is that good or bad? I think that’s opinion, not fact.
I saw the trading floors at the CBOT a few years ago before most of them were eliminated. There was some action around the Eurodollar pit as well as the big S&P, but most of them were dead.
I wish I had more up to date information on the NYSE, but from what I remember, there was some volume on the floor at market open and close as those can be times of volatility. The floor specialist is supposed to step in to help prices stabilize by buying or selling out of their own inventory.
Yes! I came across an article in the WSJ on human traders and the last auction of the day. That is behind a paywall, but looks like this tackles the topic. Scroll down to “Closing Time.”
You mean actual open outcry trades? I believe none.
Traders on the NYSE floor all have handheld tablets that they will use throughout the day to enter orders into the electronic order book. Around the closing auction they might verbally communicate their buy/sell interest to each other, but actual orders will still be entered and done electronically.