Paperwork Crunch (June 12, 1968 to Dec. 31, 1968)

Forbes: 10 Memorable Events That Closed the NYSE

Wall Street needed Wednesdays off in the late 1960s. By 1968, the NYSE found itself sitting on more than $4 billion in unprocessed transactions. Trading had risen to 21 million shares daily; by contrast, even in the heavy volume days in 1929, trading never went above 16 million shares. Papers stacked up on desks. A (now old) joke formed: If a fan blew the wrong way in a Wall Street office, visitors below could expect a ticker-tape parade."Everybody agreed that the securities-processing system had virtually broken down, and the only major point of dispute was who was more responsible for the mess: the back offices of the brokerage firms of the stock-transfer agents," Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Ray Garrett, Jr. said in 1974. Some 100 broker-dealers failed, crumbling under the pressure of fulfilling those back-orders. The fix: an organization akin to the FDIC, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

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War, Peace & Pap... Holidays mean a pause in the action at the NYSE. So do presidential funerals, wars and, of course, hurricanes. Forbes went through a 100 years of the stock exchange's history and highlighted some of the last century's notable events that brought an (always temporary) stop at 11 Wall St.

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World War One (... The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked the half-decade, continent-spanning conflict in June 1914. Operations at the NYSE stopped a month later. Later, in November, bond trading reopened with price restrictions. A month passed, then restricted stock trading commenced. Normal operations resumed in April 1915. Here, crosses at Notre Dame de Lorette's World War I military cemetery in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, northern France.

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False Armistice ... At noon on the East Coast, the president of United Press fired off a cable to New York: GERMANY GIVES UP, WAR ENDS AT 2 P.M. Euphoria quickly erupted. Courts were closed, as church bells and sirens rang out. An anti-craft gun, stationed on the roof of 120 Broadway, marked the occasion by firing blank shells. The NYSE stopped at 2 p.m.The media report was incorrect. The Germans were, in fact, simply crossing to meet with Allied commanders. World War One would officially end four days later.

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Black Monday Aft... A one-day recovery on Wednesday, Oct. 30, did little to staunch the bleeding. Earlier that week, from Monday to Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average mounted historic losses, still the worst plunge in history. The ticker did not stop running until 7:30 p.m. on that Tuesday because of the day's massive trading volume. NYSE closed at 2 p.m. on Oct. 31 to allow firms to catch-up.Here, stock ticker from the day of the 1929 stock market crash is displayed at the 'Capital of Capital" at the Museum of the City of New York.

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Civil Defense Dr... While World War Two raged overseas, Stateside officials hoped to prepare Americans for the possibility of attack. This was the first time that NYSE would stop for a defense drill. It took 26 minutes. Another drill would follow in 1943; they became a common occurrence--happening seven times--during the Cold War.

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Paperwork Crunch... Wall Street needed Wednesdays off in the late 1960s. By 1968, the NYSE found itself sitting on more than $4 billion in unprocessed transactions. Trading had risen to 21 million shares daily; by contrast, even in the heavy volume days in 1929, trading never went above 16 million shares. Papers stacked up on desks. A (now old) joke formed: If a fan blew the wrong way in a Wall Street office, visitors below could expect a ticker-tape parade."Everybody agreed that the securities-processing system had virtually broken down, and the only major point of dispute was who was more responsible for the mess: the back offices of the brokerage firms of the stock-transfer agents," Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Ray Garrett, Jr. said in 1974. Some 100 broker-dealers failed, crumbling under the pressure of fulfilling those back-orders. The fix: an organization akin to the FDIC, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

(AP Photo)

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National Day of ... To celebrate the arrival of Apollo 11 on the moon's surface, President Nixon gave the country the day off. NYSE closed accordingly. "We on earth will want, as one poeple to be with in spirit," Nixon told Americans in a televised address, "to be with them in spirit; to share the glory and the wonder; and to support them with prayers and that all will go well." It did. Neil Armstrong began the lunar exploration as the nation watched.

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Hurricane Gloria... The New York-based stock exchange never opened this day, as Hurricane Gloria advanced up the East Coast. (It was the last time that weather closed the NYSE for a full day before Hurricane Sandy nearly three decades later.) Bond and commodity markets ended early. The NYSE mustered nearly a full staff before making the decision. Most market participants headed home. Some Wall Streeters, already in town, headed for a drink.

(AP Photo)

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October 1987 Pan... Trembles in Asian markets spooked New York traders as the NYSE opened. It remains the largest one-day loss (by percentage) in the Dow's history. The blue-chip index gave up 22%, 508 points on Oct. 19--a period so bleak that it's now called Black Monday. From Oct. 23 to 30, heavy volume forced the NYSE to end days earlier, at 2 p.m.

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First Circuit Br... Circuit breakers were triggered for first time. The Dow Jones industrial Average dropped 350 points necessitating a half that closed the market at 2:35 pm for a half hour. Trading restarted at 3:05 p.m., then fell another 200 points. The exchange then closed for the day.

(AP Photo)

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9/11 Terror Atta... A terrorist strike in lower Manhattan, which destroyed the Twin Towers and cost more than 3,000 lives, temporarily disabled the U.S. financial system. Even after trading resumed on Sept. 17, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 684 points, a 7.1% decline.

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