THE AMERICAN STOCK EXCHANGE (AMEX)

The American Stock Exchange is now referred to at the New York Stock Exchange following the successful acquisition that took place on the 1st of October 2008. The American Stock Exchange, abbreviated as AMEX was formerly a mutual organization that was owned by its members. The exchange was founded over a century ago in 1908 as the New York Curb Market Agency and it is located in New York City, New York, United States.

History of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX)

The American Stock Exchange dates as far back as 112 years ago and since then it has successfully evolved through different phases. It began as the Curb market, moved to the indoor stage, then became modernized as the American Stock Exchange before finally merging with the New York Stock Exchange.

The Curb market phase

The American stock exchange started out as a collection of an orderly curb market of curb stone brokers who converged at Broad Street in Manhattan. The early 20th century saw the organization of the curb market particularly in 1907 where the market operated from the pavement outside the Blair Building with cables lined up.  The New York Curb Market Agency was established in 1908 under the leadership of E.S Mendels. What followed was an organization of the informal Curb Association in 1910, even though rift existed between the New York Stock Exchange and the Curb Association. E.S. Mendel and his team subsequently formed the New York Curb Market Association of which many refer to as the first formal plan of the American Stock Exchange. What was characteristic of this stage was that the traders had no office space and operated outdoor.

The Indoor Era

This phase was characterized by the Curb brokers forming a real estate company to build the exchange building which was located at Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan, which was open in 1921. The New York Curb Market then changed its name to the New York Curb Exchange in 1929 and became the leading international market that listed so many foreign securities than a combination of all other U.S. securities. The New York Curb Market Association first operated with Edward Reid McCormick as president, who was then succeeded by the unanimously-elected president, George Rea in 1939. Rea served for three years and resigned in  1942.

The Modernization Era

The Curb Exchange had its name changed to the American Stock Exchange in 1953. The exchange subsequently named Edwin Etherington as president in1962, after it was faced with a mismanagement scandal the previous year. The exchange became the largest U.S. stock exchange in 1971under the leadership of Paul Kolton, who had a positive impact on the exchange and introduced options trading. In 1977, Thomas Peterfly played a developmental role in the exchange by bringing interactive brokers to form an electronic platform.

The Merger Phase with the NYSE

October 2008 saw the complete acquisition of the American Stock Exchange by the NYSE Euronext for the sum of $260 million in stock. After the successful merger, equities of AMEX were branded as NYSE Alternext US and further rebranded as NYSE AMEX equities, and the merged exchange relocated to the NYSE floor at 11 Wall Street. In May 2012, the NYSE AMEX Equities was renamed NYSE MKT LLC and finally, NYSE America.