What Wall Street’s Ups and Downs Look Like
CreditSam Hodgson for The New York Times
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Americans have pictured the stock market the exact same way for generations.
Men in blue jackets scamper across a trading room floor at the New York Stock Exchange, alternatively delighted or despondent, following rises and falls of geopolitical turmoil, the specter of regulation or, perhaps, the whims of other investors.
Most trading these days does not happen on the floor of the exchange. The majority are the result of selections made by algorithms, trades executed from one machine to another.
What these images of men on the trading floor convey is the mood of Wall Street, where the action affects everything from the fortunes of corporate executives to retirement savings of middle-class families with 401(k) accounts. And on days like Monday, when the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index and the Dow Jones industrial average both experienced historic drops, pictures of anguished traders in news stories were reminders that what goes up inevitably comes back down (if only to go back up once again).
This is what Wall Street looked like on Tuesday.
8:27 a.m.
The S.&P. 500 closed the previous night at 2648.94, and trading in Asian and European markets overnight suggest that United States markets are in for another bad day. As Wall Street comes alive, an employee walks through Federal Hall with the New York Stock Exchange reflected in the glass door.
9:14 a.m.
Some New Yorkers outside of the exchange avoid the turmoil before the markets open at 9:30 to focus on what could be an equally compelling headline: pizza.
11:56 a.m.
S.&.P.: 2,643.94
Change from open: -0.28 %
This passer-by on Wall Street is in red, but the markets are not. After stocks opened down, the S.&P. found a way to reverse some of its losses. Stocks would jostle up and down for much of the first half of the day.
1:52 p.m.
S.&.P.: 2,636.29
Change from open: -0.57 %
Television camera crews flood the financial district when markets become turbulent. Often their prop of choice is a newspaper declaring sharp moves in bold typeface.
2:13 p.m.
S.&.P.: 2,636.91
Change from open: -0.54 %
A broker takes a break to smoke, get lunch and check his phone.
3:38 p.m.
S.&.P.: 2,694.40
Change from open: 1.62 %
Peter Tuchman, who BuzzFeed called “The Most Photographed Trader on Wall Street,” works on the floor near an area where television stations run their broadcasts.
3:39 p.m.
S.&.P.: 2,697.63
Change from open: 1.75 %
Fernando Munoz, a manager for floor operations at the N.Y.S.E., shouts to a colleague as the trading day almost ends, with stocks spectacularly up after the remarkable plunge on Monday.
3:53 p.m.
S.&.P.: 2,689.22
Change from open: 1.43 %
Mark Tarr, president and chief executive of Encompass Health Corporation, a health care provider, prepares to ring the closing bell. Stocks rallied to close up 567 points.
3:57 p.m.
S.&.P.: 2,693.26
Change from open: 1.58 %
CNBC broadcasts its daily markets wrap from the floor of the exchange.
4:02 p.m.
Close: 2,695.14
Change from open: 1.74 %
After the market closes, traders finish their work. The flurry of activity tends to be concentrated around the opening and closing bells.
4:09 p.m.
A tablet serving as a teleprompter sums up the day: a “roller-coaster ride.”
4:10 p.m.
At the end of the day, traders hang their ties up at their work stations, a sign of a job well done. They’ll be back on the roller coaster on Wednesday, at 9:30 a.m. sharp.
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