From Wall Street to Y’all Street
Editor’s note: This is an editorial. Like a news article, an editorial is based on facts but also contains opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and bear no association with our editorial staff.
SALT LAKE CITY — Every half hour we bring you updates on what’s happening on Wall Street. This is where the New York Stock Exchange is located, where traders shout “Buy! Sell!” like in the Eddie Murphy movie “Trading Corps.”
Wait. Have I ever told you that I was one of those traders? I rented a seat at the New York Futures Exchange, made a certificate, learned all the shaky hand signals and yelled “Buy! Sell!”
And I learned that a lot of these people had hemorrhoids from standing still all day in a sea of stress. Then a few cases of tuberculosis appeared on the floor and while all these people were screaming and spitting at each other, I decided to sell! I sold my seat and left. That wasn’t for me. I lost a few hundred dollars. But I understood completely when this brutal form of capitalism was replaced by electronic commerce.
Now we give you half-hour updates on what’s happening on Wall Street, but much of it actually takes place on computer farms in Kansas, in Jersey City and, increasingly, in office buildings in Dallas.
Texas is luring the financial industry south with advantages like low tax rates, cheaper homes and less traffic than New York. JP Morgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, now has more employees in Texas than in New York, so don’t be surprised if we start referring to the financial markets the same way they do in Texas.
Instead of Wall Street, where the industry used to be located, the markets are now called Y’all Street. Times are changing.
Jeff Caplan is host of Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News on KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on on facebook. And X.
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