Word: buttonwood
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Stocks also came near hitting new lows in relation to yields and earnings. Ever since a few brokers swapped stocks beneath a Manhattan buttonwood tree, the rule-of-thumb way to value a stock was to multiply its profits by ten. Stable earners (like tobacco manufacturers, food companies, utilities, etc.) might be worth up to 20 times earnings. But today many stocks sell at four, three, or two times earnings. Examples...
...Forbears of the present Stock Exchange were securities auctioneers who began trading in 1792 under a buttonwood tree at 68 Wall Street...
...decision to raze the Stock Exchange building to save taxes and to replace it with a large and spreading buttonwood tree* to save at least a symbol of the famous old market place was unanimously voted yesterday by the three governors who have not forfeited voting rights because of arrearage of dues...
...when 24 brokers got together under a buttonwood tree at what is now 68 Wall Street, a "seat" meant a seat in the trading hall. But as the Exchange expanded, seats became valuable less as certificates of participation in the tangible assets of the Exchange than as indications of the earning power and condition of the market. Seats were first offered for sale in 1868 when membership stood at 500. During the '70s they sold at about $5,000. By 1929 membership was up to the present 1,375, price of a seat reached...
...elections. During the preceding month it holds three open meetings at which brokers suggest candidates, make stump speeches. In the end, however, the nominating committee from the depth of its own wisdom names whom it pleases. Throughout the 143 years since organized trading began under the old buttonwood tree on Wall Street, official nominations have been, almost without exception, tantamount to election...