????股票市場交易員差點不得不在桑迪颶風(fēng)肆虐的時候繼續(xù)工作。

????上周日一整天，紐約證交所（New York Stock Exchange）都表示，雖然交易所的交易大廳將關(guān)閉，但股票交易將繼續(xù)通過電子方式進(jìn)行。這種情形與10年多前形成了極大的反差：911事件之后，納斯達(dá)克（NASDAQ）和其他電子交易系統(tǒng)本可重新開市，但紐約證交所時任首席執(zhí)行官迪克?格拉索幾乎是在威逼它們繼續(xù)閉市。這一次，紐約證交所看起來似乎已經(jīng)打定主意，要證明十多來來在新澤西州馬瓦規(guī)劃和建設(shè)一個數(shù)據(jù)中心的努力沒有白費。

????然而，隨后就沒聲了。周一紐約證交所一切交易關(guān)閉，周二仍將閉市。

????不清楚確切原因是什么。現(xiàn)在我們不知道，但交易專家們似乎確信，股市本可正常運轉(zhuǎn)，周一只需關(guān)閉交易大廳。“股票交易絕對應(yīng)當(dāng)立即開始，”市場科技咨詢公司TABB Group的亞當(dāng)?蘇斯曼說。“他們最終決定關(guān)閉電子交易，讓我有些意外。”

????周日晚6點，紐約證交所、納斯達(dá)克和其他交易系統(tǒng)的官員們與華爾街公司的一些交易負(fù)責(zé)人舉行了電話會議。據(jù)報道，華爾街公司稱它們無法在短時間內(nèi)做好準(zhǔn)備，對必須因此而出行的員工安全表示擔(dān)憂。美國證券交易委員會（Securities and Exchange Commission）可能也施加了一些壓力。不過，正式宣布股市閉市大概是4個小時左右之后的事了。

????但這并沒有阻止華爾街公司的債券交易員進(jìn)公司交易。瑞信（Credit Suisse）的一名股票衍生品交易員表示，通常有600人的公司股票交易室周一大約有10個人。債券交易員大多在辦公室。

????制訂一系列應(yīng)急方案時，這些畢業(yè)于哈佛（Harvard）等名牌大學(xué)的MBA們總會有人想到將颶風(fēng)包括在內(nèi)。而且，市場科技專家們表示，很多華爾街公司有能力讓交易員在家登陸公司網(wǎng)絡(luò)，進(jìn)行股票買賣。

????另一個數(shù)據(jù)點：紐約證交所的股票交易執(zhí)行負(fù)責(zé)人常駐芝加哥。因此，即便天氣晴朗，他也不在紐約，而且在大多數(shù)時候，這種方式似乎也可行。

????過去5年左右，股票交易一直在從紐約證交所流出。大約40%的股票交易從未通過紐交所進(jìn)行交易。其余的股票交易有很大一部分也是在其他地方完成的，在經(jīng)紀(jì)公司的計算機(jī)系統(tǒng)或其他競爭性電子交易系統(tǒng)中撮合后，遞送至紐約證交所的系統(tǒng)，納入統(tǒng)計。盡管如此，過去幾年已經(jīng)證明，其他系統(tǒng)也可以像紐約證交所一樣高效地進(jìn)行股票交易。

????你或許會說，最近股票交易出差錯的事件增加正是股票交易流出紐約證交所的結(jié)果。但最近騎士（Knight）的交易災(zāi)難就是發(fā)生在在紐約證交所上市的股票上，看起來紐約證交所在終止交易差錯上的表現(xiàn)也并不比別人出色。而且，就算有人可能希望這樣，我們也絕不不可能再回到所有股票交易都通過面對面交易進(jìn)行的時代。

????但紐約證交所的競爭優(yōu)勢之一就是，它還擁有實際的交易大廳。這不是一個很大的優(yōu)勢，但依然算得上是一個優(yōu)勢。“如今，紐約證交所的主要工作就是電視演播室，”克里斯多夫?納吉說。

????而且即便紐約證交所迫切地希望證明，它能夠在新的交易時代下進(jìn)行競爭，眾多其他的市場參與者正在按自己的方式不斷擴(kuò)張。市場的進(jìn)一步分裂更可能讓新興的高頻交易公司獲益，而不是摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）或高盛（Goldman Sachs）等公司。美國證券交易委員會在監(jiān)管電子市場方面已經(jīng)落后太多，它當(dāng)然也不希望看到紐約證交所對市場現(xiàn)有的影響力逐步下降。

????但是紐約證交所愿意賭一把，相信全電子交易能給業(yè)務(wù)帶來更多的裨益，勝過保持其神秘性帶來的優(yōu)勢。華爾街其他有影響力的市場參與者和監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)可不愿意打這樣的賭。

????譯者：楊智

????Stock market traders nearly had to work through Hurricane Sandy.

????All day Sunday, the New York Stock Exchange said that while the exchange's floor would be closed, stock trading would go on, electronically. It was a stark contrast from a little over a decade ago, when then NYSE CEO Dick Grasso basically bullied the NASDAQ and other electronic trading venues to stay closed in the wake of 9/11 when they probably could have re-opened on their own. This time the NYSE seemed determined to prove that more than a decade of planning and the construction of a fortified facility in Mahwah, New Jersey, had been worth it.

????Then nothing. The market was closed on Monday for all trading, and it will stay closed on Tuesday.

????It's not exactly clear why. We won't know now, but trading experts seem convinced that the market could have functioned normally with the actual exchange closed on Monday. "Stock trading could absolutely be operating right now," says Adam Sussman of market technology consulting firm TABB Group. "I'm kind of surprised they decided not to trade electronically."

????On Sunday at 6 P.M., officials from the NYSE, the Nasdaq and other exchanges held a conference call with the heads of trading at the major Wall Street firms. Reportedly, the Wall Street firms said they couldn't be ready on short notice, and were concerned about the well-being of their employees who would have to travel. The Securities and Exchange Commission probably applied some pressure as well. Still, it took another four hours or so for stock trading to officially be called off.

????But that didn't stop the Wall Street firms from having their bond traders come in. An equity derivatives trader at Credit Suisse said there were about 10 people in the office on Monday on the firm's equity trading floor out of a normal 600. Debt traders were mostly in the office.

????And when creating a list for contingency planning, you have to think that at least one of those Harvard MBAs would have thought to include hurricanes. What's more, market technology experts say that a number of Wall Street firms have the capacity to allow their traders to buy and sell stocks over the firm's networks from home.

????Another data point: The NYSE's head of stock trading execution is based in Chicago. So even on a clear day he's not in New York, and on most days that seems to work out fine.

????In the past half decade or so, stock trading has been moving away from the NYSE. About 40% of stock trades never pass through the exchange. A good percentage of the rest are completed elsewhere, crossed in the computer systems of brokerage firms, or other competing electronic trading venues, but are routed through the NYSE's system, so they get counted. Nonetheless, what the last few years have proven is that others can do stock trading just as efficiently as the NYSE.

????You can argue that the recent increase in stock trading glitches is a result of this movement away from the NYSE. But Knight's recent trading disaster happened in NYSE stocks, so it's not like the NYSE is doing a better job of stopping trading glitches. And while some may wish it, we are never going back to system where all stocks are traded face-to-face.

????The one competitive advantage, though, the NYSE still has is the actual trading floor. It's not that big of an advantage, but it's something. "The NYSE is mainly a TV studio these days," says Christopher Nagy.

????And even if the NYSE is desperate to prove that it can compete in the new era of trading, a number of other market participants are investing in keeping things the way they are. A further fracturing of the market probably would benefit upstart high-frequency trading firms more than Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs. The SEC, too, which is already woefully behind in policing electronic markets, doesn't want whatever grasp on the market the NYSE still has, to fade away.

????Still, the NYSE was willing to make the bet that proving it could operate fully electronically would be a better boon for its business than maintaining the mystique that the floor gives it some advantage. Other Wall Street's power players and regulators weren't willing to make that bet.