A public corporation is a business whose securities are traded on the public stock exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. A private company is held solely by its owners and is not traded publicly. When the shareholders of a private business receive the periodical financial reports, they are entitled to assume that the company’s financial statements and footnotes are prepared in accordance with GAAP. Otherwise the president of chief officer of the business should clearly warn the shareholders that GAAP have not been followed in one or more respects. The content of a private business’s annual financial report is often minimal. It includes the three primary financial statements – the balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows. There’s (more…)

The history of the New York Stock Exchange is littered with colourful
stories that feature soaring stocks and bonds, horrible crashes, as well as
ceremonies to mark significant moments in history and even simple holidays.

When World War I broke out in 1914, the governing body of the New York
Stock Exchange decided to suspend trading. In retrospect, an initial
closing was probably a good idea since holdings in Europe of American
securities were more than likely going to be extremely unstable. The shut
down was considered to be an emergency measure, but a necessary one to keep
the market from crashing altogether.

The market closed on August 1, 1914, but what shocked so many was that the
market didn’t just close for a day or two, it closed for four months (more…)

Richard Grasso was born in New York City in 1946 and was chairman of the
New York Stock Exchange for 8 years from 1995 until 2003. His career on
Wall Street began in 1968 when he began working as a clerk. Grasso was also
president of the exchange during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
on the World Trade Center and his leadership was considered to be a major
factor in getting the exchange up and working so quickly after the attacks.

Grasso grew up in the city and was raised by his mother. He joined the Army
after attending university for two years, and it was upon his exit from the
Army that he began working as a floor clerk on Wall Street. The rest, as
they say, is history. Grasso (more…)