11 Fascinating “Then and Now” Facts About the Stock Market
The history of the stock market is really the history of capitalism, technology, and human behavior — all moving forward together.
The market has changed in almost every way over the past 200 years — size, speed, access, and global reach.
But in some ways, it hasn’t changed at all.
With the market closed for Good Friday, I put together a few “Then and Now” stock market facts.
1792 -There are five securities traded in New York City. Three are government bonds and two are bank stocks.
Now – There are roughly 2,300 companies listed on the NYSE (about 7,000+ securities including ETFs, bonds, and other products).
1823 – Fredriksen Lunde, my great, great-grandfather emigrates to the U.S. from Sweden. He passes on buying a seat at the NYSE as he feels capitalism is “a fad.”
Now – Every year, on the anniversary of his passing I visit his grave and throw lingonberries at the headstone.
1886 – The Exchange experiences its first million-share day on December 15th.
Now – Daily NYSE volume regularly exceeds 4 billion shares.
1942 – A membership sells for $17,000, the lowest price in the twentieth century.
Now – Before going public the highest price paid for a NYSE seat was $4 million on December 1st, 2005.
1952 – The NYSE, in its first shareholder census, finds that 6,490,000 Americans own common stock.
Now – About 58%–62% of Americans own stock, either directly or through retirement accounts.
1974 – Trading hours are extended from 10:00am until 4:00pm.
Now – With extended hours and overnight trading, the stock market is basically open 24/5, which means bad decisions are no longer limited to business hours.
1987 – Traders panic during the crash and call their brokers on the phone to sell stocks.
Now – Traders panic during 3% corrections and open six different apps to sell the same stock.
1993 – Daimler-Benz AG becomes the first German listed company.
Now – About 500+ non-U.S. companies from more than 40 countries are listed on the NYSE with a combined market value over $10 trillion.
1996 – NYSE listed company Oakley misses earnings and massively gaps down, cutting my trading account in half. The stock never recovers.
Now – I only wear Ray Bans.
2001 – Decimal pricing of all NYSE stocks is fully implemented, ending the practice of trading in fractions used for two centuries.
Now – Stocks still trade in pennies, but algorithms trade in sub-penny increments and prices often display out to four decimal places in dark pools and internalization systems.
2012 – I decline to buy Facebook (now Meta) at its IPO and ridicule the stock as overvalued and social media “a fad.”
2052 – I am sent to assisted living after punching my adult grandson in the head when he shows me an old blog post where I said, “I’m not buying the SpaceX IPO because space commerce is a fad.”
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Nothing written, expressed, or implied here should be looked at as investment advice or an admonition to buy, sell, or trade any security or financial instrument. As always, do your own diligence.