Wall Street, Wall St
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
Wall Street is the name of the financial district in New York, effectively the financial capital of the world (although the Square Mile or City of London also lays claim to that title). [br]
It is a street in the Lower Manhattan district, New York City, in the state of New York, USA. It runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River. It is both the historic and current center of the financial district, and has come to be the name of the surrounding region as well as the street itself.
Wall Street is the name of the financial district in New York, effectively the financial capital of the world (although the Square Mile or City of London also lays claim to that title). [br]
It is a street in the Lower Manhattan district, New York City, in the state of New York, USA. It runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River. It is both the historic and current center of the financial district, and has come to be the name of the surrounding region as well as the street itself.
It is also the current home of the New York Stock Exchange; as well as the NYSE, the NASDAQ (for technology), the AMEX (alternative exchange), NYMEX (merchantile exchange) and NYBOT are based here.
Wall Street History
Wall Street in the 17th century formed the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement, and was literally a wall. In 1640, a basic picket and plank fence denoted plots and residences in the colony and formed the boundary.
The Dutch West India Company commissioned Peter Stuyvesant (using slave labour) to build a stronger stockade.The strengthened wall defended the colony against Amerindian tribal attacks. In 1685 surveyors laid out Wall Street along the lines of the original stockade, which was dismantled by the new British owners in 1699.[br]
By the late 18th century, traders, merchants, profiteers and speculators started to gather informally to trade. It was later formalized with the Buttonwood Agreement – the origin of the New York Stock Exchange.
In 1789 George Washington took the oath of office here, as well as later passing of the Bill Of Rights in Wall St.
Wall St vs Main St
Over time Wall Street also came to represent the financiers and other powerful financial influence or the ‘money changers’ of the modern industrial era.
The term “Wall Street” can refer to big business, and particularly banks and financiers, arrayed against the little people – consumers and small businesses, who have come to be know as ‘Main St’.. It is sometimes used more specifically to refer to investment banks and their support networks. Whereas ‘Main Street” conjures up images of locally owned businesses and banks. Wall St is also sometimes used to represent corporate America as a whole, or more specifically the interests of large Fortune 500 companies.
