The massive American flag draped over the New York Stock Exchange's towering pillars has been removed so that Hurricane Irene doesn't tear it down this weekend. Inside the downtown Manhattan building, Big Board staff are prepping a backup power generator that is safely located well above the Wall Street-level trading floor. Extra fuel is in the basement and extra food is in the kitchen.
Benedict Willis III, director of floor operations for investment banking boutique Sunrise Securities, said on Friday the NYSE has a responsibility to open after the storm passes on Monday because millions of investors are relying on it for stock prices.
"But if the waters rise this high," he said gesturing at the buzzing trading floor, "then it's a bigger problem than I can handle. My name's not Noah."
With the powerful storm roaring up the US east coast, setting off evacuations in the Carolinas, NYSE Euronext officials said that for now at least they plan to open trading as usual next week. But a final decision, particularly on floor operations, won't be made until later this weekend. It hinges on whether city subways are running and whether New York Harbour waters flood over the low-lying downtown core -- one of the worst case scenarios seen on Sunday, when Irene is to hit.
"If you get a huge tidal surge then that's different. The building wouldn't be occupiable," said Lou Pastina, executive vice president of NYSE operations…
. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/NYSE-looks-to-open-Monday-but-Irene-has-final-say-L4MM9?OpenDocument&src=hp2
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