MBy Scott McKinnon ’18

Many aspiring investors dream of just getting to step inside the New York Stock Exchange, and, on Tuesday, December 8, this dream became a reality for a select few members of Chaminade High School’s Economics Club.  Moderated by Mr. Kevin Parente ’82, the club took Peter Charalambous, the president of the club, Anthony Sikorski, the club’s vice president,  John Lunz, and Austin Ricca, and Quinn Matos, the other officers of the club, to take a full tour of the famous stock exchange with guide, Mr. Thomas McCauley, vice president of McCauley Trading.

The tour lasted about 3 hours, but since the adventure occurred in the morning, the students were able to experience the 9:30 opening of the stock exchange, an event viewed by investors across the world.

Before the exchange opened, the students, who began their tour on a visitor’s balcony, were able to view the traders running from place to place with different tablets and phones preparing for the busy morning ahead of them.  Many of them were talking about different trades and preparing ideas for when the market opened.  Before the bell rang to signal the opening of the market at 9:30 AM, the Flyers went onto the trading floor to witness “complete madness” ensue as described by Anthony Sikorski ’16.

Trades broke out on all fronts, charts were examined, and traders yelled across the floor.  Millions of dollars traded hands as investors looked for minor details that determined their pursuit of a certain trade.

After the opening, the Flyers met various traders, who taught the eager students about various aspects of the market. “I learned that you don’t necessarily need a degree in economics to be a successful investor. Sometimes a bit of common sense is all that is required,” said Anthony.

One surprise for the students was that the floor appeared nothing like the hectic, crowded, paper flying stock exchange that is depicted in movies or documentaries on the stock market.  They learned that due to a 2007 digital revamping of exchange digitalizing, the New York Stock Exchange changed dramatically; instead of scattered papers and old-fashioned clickers, all trading is now done on handheld tablets and computers.

As the Flyers headed back to Mineola, they were glad that they learned incalculable information about the world of finance to share with the other members of the Economics Club.

 

The Economics Club meets on Tuesdays at 3:00 in room 209. For more information about the club, speak to Mr. Kevin Parente ’82 or Coach Scott Cole ’95.