The New York Stock Exchange announced Friday that it will close on Tuesday as part of a national day of mourning to mark the funeral of President Gerald R. Ford, who died at his Rancho Mirage, Calif.,home on Tuesday at the age of 93. The NYSE joined the Nasdaq Stock Market with its own announcement Thursday.
In this article reported on Yahoo.com news, closings began with Wall Street's closing on the day of a national funeral dating back to the burial of President Ulysses S. Grant in 1885. However, the NYSE has sometimes traded on a shortened schedule during a presidential funeral -- the last time, for Herbert Hoover's funeral in 1964.
Also, there was some speculation the markets would try to have at least some stock trading on Tuesday because of the four-day closure that will also include the weekend. The last time Wall Street was closed this long was in the days following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, when it was closed for six days including a weekend.
The NYSE, Nasdaq and New York Mercantile Exchange all observed moments of silence Wednesday in memory of Ford. Traders at the NYSE and NYMEX stood in silence on the trading floors for two minutes. And, the Nasdaq -- which is an electronic exchange -- asked traders to refrain from making any transactions during that time.
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