Thursday, October 9, 2008

Another Unthinkable Event

Is the unthinkable going to happen? What do I mean? How about the government closing the stock exchange to try to induce calm in the market. I am not talking about a circuit breaking close for a half an hour. I am referring to a multi day or week long halt. It's not as farfetched as it sounds, Roosevelt closed the banks in 1933.

Here are some major historical closing for the NYSE:

July 31 - Nov. 27, 1914 - Outbreak of World War I.

March 6 - 14, 1933 - Banking holiday.

September 11-14, 2001 - Terrorist Attacks.

I'm not saying that closing the exchange will work, as it may have the opposite effect, and many of these stocks trade off the exchange or overseas.

The full list of closings.

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