My friend Mike was kind enough to offer me an invitation to tour the floor of the NYSE with him today, so we took the limo up to NYC from Philadelphia this morning.
When we got to Wall Street, and made it through all of the necessary security checks, we were given a tour of the floor from the head trader of one of the firms. I knew that the NYSE had been converted to the Hybrid Market, but I was still surprised at how quiet and mellow the place was. People were just sitting around, hanging out, chatting, and staring at the computer screens.
The NYSE has changed - everyone was talking about it. It isn’t like it used to be. No more screaming crowds. It’s just like this article in the New York Times from September says:

But even on its busiest days, the trading floor is a sideshow compared with the center-ring attraction it was several years ago. Most of the action in shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange happens electronically, between the computers of traders at brokerage houses, mutual fund companies and home offices in spare bedrooms.

The instantaneous execution of trades those computers allow has diminished the value of much of what the humans on the floor used to do. For the last several months, the floor has accounted for less than half of the trading in the 2,700 stocks listed on the exchange. Three years ago, that share was about 80 percent.

“The floor as we knew it is dead,” said James J. Angel, an associate professor of finance at Georgetown University. “The old days when Billy would trade with Vinny and swap information about orders so that they could get a better price for their customer are gone.”

The specialists lost a lot of money with the move to technology - which is a good thing for all of us. The markets are now more fair and efficient, and quick.
The people were all very nice - and as you can imagine, there are some characters. I met a trader who had been there for 47 years. And the guy giving us the tour - his father and grandfather were floor brokers. From these people, you get a feel for what the place used to be - and how it has changed.
I was surprised at how many of the badges that the traders wore had the Irish shamrock on it. There are a lot of Irish on the floor of the NYSE, and if you are Irish on the floor of the NYSE, you put the sticker on your badge.
I didn’t get to talk with many people, but I was glad I went by the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A) post. If you’re going to see one post, it might as well be that one I guess. There was an older guy standing there, I think they called him “captain” or something like that. He didn’t seem busy at all. I see that 810 shares were traded on BRK-A today.

From a trip to Ireland last Spring:

I am very pleased to announce that Guinness beer is healthy:

The researchers told a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, that the most benefit they saw was from 24 fluid ounces of Guinness - just over a pint - taken at mealtimes.

They believe that “antioxidant compounds” in the Guinness, similar to those found in certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for the health benefits because they slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the artery walls.

This must explain the “Irish paradox” which refers to the observation that the Irish suffer relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease, despite having a diet relatively rich in saturated fats.
Man, life is good. Both red wine and Guinness beer are good for you.

Here’s a picture of me and some coworkers playing bocce today at lunch.

I’m the guy with the Ireland hat.

When I was in Ireland, I had a Guinness every day - often with a warm bowl of fisherman’s chowder.
I was surprised to learn that sales of the world’s #1 stout are down 30% in Ireland since 2001.
I guess there is a growing trend of people wanting lighter, blander, “refreshing drinks.” Not me. I had a pint of Amstel light last weekend and it tasted like beer-flavored water. On the label it should say “30% beer.”
Anyway, even though sales are down, Diageo’s chart looks pretty strong, up 50% in the last two years:

Maybe people are switching from stout to box wine for the resveratrol.

When I was in Ireland last week, the rental car company charged my credit card €58.65 for gas on 3/25, which would be refunded at the end of the week provided we return the car with a full tank of gas. I returned the car with a full tank of gas on 3/31, so €58.65 was refunded to my credit card. American Express charged me $79.86 for the €58.65 on 3/25 and refunded me $80.08 for the €58.65 on 3/31 - a profit of $0.22.

Ireland is a beautiful and expensive country. I’ll post some pictures of the trip later.

Last year I was able to get 15 people to promise to die for Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day. This year I am going to open up the oath a week early to see if we can get a few more. You can view the statistics and make the pledge here.
Remember to drink some green tea and eat some leafy greens for the holiday.
And get Angela’s Ashes on tape - unabridged and read by the author - at your local library.

Good morning, my name is Ugly, and I am a loser. I have it in me to do serious financial damage to my account.

Dear Diary,
So far I have only had one bottle of wine for Ireland, but don’t worry I promise to do my part for St. Patrick’s day and for Ireland.
I could see MALL dropping to $5 at least.
NFLD is on the verge of breaking its trendline.
NGPS has dropped a lot, but it could go a lot more.
RADN is another candidate to watch for shorting.
I made a lot of money on TRAD in 2003, maybe for luck I should short it now.
XING looks good to short.

My mind can’t really grasp ARD right now, after a bottle of wine, but it looks good to me from this perspective. I will have to go over it more closely later.
One of the strongest stocks in the market, WLT, broke out nicely today.
Not much volume, but GDP could be reversing from its 50dma.
LCAV is making new all-time highs.

Under $22.50 will now be a new 20-day low for PARL and maybe I should sell it from the portfolio.

The movie Garden State was not great - a little pretentious - but it has a beautiful soundtrack.

Don’t forget to vote off a stock market blog remainder!

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I thought today would be a good day to recruit people to sign up to promise to die for Ireland. Click here to sign up!