A visit to the New York Stock Exchange captivated members of Huntington High School’s first year stocks analysis club. The teenagers traveled into Manhattan one recent day and toured the trading floor, witnessed the ringing of the starting bell and spoke with brokers.
With a market capitalization of its listed companies standing at $19.3 trillion as of last June, the New York Stock Exchange is the largest such exchange in the world. Its trading floor can be found at 11 Wall Street and features 21 separate rooms.
Club faculty advisor Lynn Corsetti-Hendricks accompanied the student contingent to the venerable institution, which was founded on May 17, 1792.
“This was a really memorable experience,” said senior Steve Yeh, the club’s president. “We learned a lot about how designated ‘market makers’ do their jobs along with executive managers for big banks. A lot of what goes on now is automated, but the NYSE incorporates human interaction and monitoring in accordance with the trades that happen. I would like to thank Mrs. Hendricks for coordinating this trip. Without her, it could not have happened.”
Stocks analysis club membership totals about 20 students. During their trip earlier this week, the teenagers spoke with brokers working for a variety of trading companies about the process of buying and selling stocks in a fast-paced environment. The Huntington group took an early morning LIRR train into Manhattan and returned back home by 2:45 p.m.
“We learned how to buy and sell stocks, how the NYSE has evolved over the past several decades and how the brokers and people working the floor have adjusted to these changes,” junior Lindsay Saginaw said. “We learned how technology has influenced the stock market and how automation has completely changed the way people buy and sell.”
Club members have been participating in a market simulation game. They check on their stock holdings during weekly club meetings. “The club is great preparation for the future,” Ms. Saginaw said. “We are getting a head start on learning how to build and groom a portfolio, manage our stocks and interpret market trends.”
Students thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Wall Street. “Visiting the New York Stock Exchange was an experience that gave me an in-depth view of how stocks are traded,” senior Amanda LoScalzo said. It was enlightening to learn the effects the market has on not only the United States economy, but also globally.”
