Billions by day, trillions at play at the New York Stock Exchange

Founded on March 8, 1817, the world's biggest bourse, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) may have lost its sheen from the turn of the century, when 41 per cent of the market value of all the listed companies in the world resided at the NYSE but with $25 trillion as market capitalisation of its listed companies, it still commands nearly 30 per cent of the market value of all listed companies.
Incidentally, the BSE's market capitalisation of all its listed companies is $2.19 trillion.

NYSE's current residence, 11, Wall Street, came up in 1903, prior to which it moved house several times - 10-12 times, by its own admission - before finally settling in at its present quarters. However, much before it had a roof over its head, the NYSE's 24 founding members, who drafted the original brokers' agreement, had met under the shade of a tree, a buttonwood tree - which is now 68, Wall Street.

With an average daily volume of $123 billion, making money on the world's most liquid capital source is apparently child's play. By contrast, BSE's daily average is $700 million.
A seat at the NYSE costs $3.55 million while a similar membership at the BSE is available for a little under $16,000.

NYSE's bell has its own history - first introduced in 1870s when continuous trading became a norm. Initially, a Chinese gong was the preferred instrument - replaced by an electrically operated brass bell when the NYSE moved into its current building. When the time to replace these bells came, in the 1980s, the manufacturing company, G S Edwards Company had to recall its retired employees as none of its then employees had knowledge of making the bells.
The first guest to ring the opening bell at NYSE was Leonard Ross, a 10-year old who had won a quiz contest about the stock market, in 1956 (seen in the photo).

The central female figure in the pediment above the colonnade is known as Intregrity, who stands atop a pedestal with arms outstretched - symbolically protecting the works of man, across science, industry, agriculture, mining and realising intelligence, represented by 10 other figures.
Originally carved from marble, which weighed several tonnes and consequently posed a threat to the pediment's structural integrity, it was replaced in 1936 by lead-coated sheet copper replicas.

The colonnade, which makes the NYSE eminently distinguishable and serves as an identification mark, comprises six columns, each measuring 52'6", behind which is a curtain of glass windows, 90 feet wide and 50 feet high, to allow maximum daylight on to the trading floor.
The building's basement houses a steel safe deposit vault, measuring 120 feet in length and 22 feet wide - though what's in it, or whether there's anything inside, is unknown.