Why did the NYSE trading floor need to reopen?

[disneysteve]

The trading floor of the NYSE reopened today after being closed due to COVID. My question is why? Clearly the stock market has continued to function just fine with the traders not physically present. What actual purpose, if any, does their presence serve?

[~bs]

it's a symbol. much like people that can work from home going back to work

[disneysteve]

it's a symbol. much like people that can work from home going back to work

That was my thought, but I don't fully understand exactly what actually happens on the floor so I didn't know if there was some reason their jobs were more efficient or more fully functioning in person.

[kork13]

That was my thought, but I don't fully understand exactly what actually happens on the floor so I didn't know if there was some reason their jobs were more efficient or more fully functioning in person.

I know one of the biggest impact when they were running everything electronically was how they close the market ("making the market") at the end of the day. I'm not terribly familiar, but my understanding is that on the floor, there are some folks who basically settles the trades of the day & set the prices for the next opening....or something like that. Without them on the floor doing that, that process had to be done differently.

Another point is just that the NYSE has a very peculiar sub-culture within it. Its own language of signs/gestures, shorthand statements, and traditions. They, just as most entrenched groups, resist change mightily and want to get things back to what they know.

[AlexanderOgden]

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