Chronology of the stock market

by Russell O. Wright

"On May 17, 1792, a group of 24 U.S. merchant-brokers established (via the "Buttonwood Agreement") a procedure for trading securities (mostly bonds issued by Alexander Hamilton to defray the costs of the Revolutionary War). On March 8, 1817, the turmoil of the War of 1812 led the group to join with other traders to form the New York Stock & Exchange Board, which rented rooms at 40 Wall Street.". "This chronology (first entry 1644, last August 2001) covers early trading and the evolution of the stock exchange in the United States, the establishment of various market indexes, and the development of market regulation. It reveals how the market was affected by historical events. Much attention is given to the New York Stock Exchange, for most of its existence much bigger than all other stock exchanges combined.". "Appendices cover such topics as basic investment risk, high growth from fixed rates, long term stock market drops, evaluating stocks, the dot.com phenomenon, market indexes, and