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• Investors Support Home Repair Companies in Wake of Hurricane Sandy - 1 November 2012

On its first day of trading following the two-day shutdown caused by Hurricane Sandy, Wall Street closed relatively unchanged on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones losing 10.75 points (0.08 percent) to close at 13,096.46, the Standard and Poor's 500 climbing 0.22 points (0.02 percent) to close at 1,412.16 and the Nasdaq Composite Index losing 10.72 points (0.36 percent) to close at 2,977.23. The shutdown was reportedly the first multi-day weather related closure of the New York Stock Exchange since 1888, and traders made their way to the exchange in the early hours of the morning keen to set the wheels of trade in motion again.

• High-Speed Trading Back in the Spotlight - 9 August 2012

In days gone by, the floor of the New York Stock Exchange was crowded with market-makers and other specialists trading, creating a hive of activity and a buzz of excitement. Technology has replaced this scenario with computers, and as high-speed trading continues to move ahead, fortunes can be made or lost in the blink of an eye. While being fairly low profile in the public eye, Knight Capital Group is a major market-maker for the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ stocks, making extensive use of technology programmed to place buy or sell orders based on real-time market activity. Wednesday 1 August saw Knight Capital Group lose $440 million in the space of 30 minutes due to a technical glitch, once again bringing the pros and cons of high-speed trading into the spotlight and prompting a review of past problems caused by this hi-tech trend, such as the 'flash crash' of 2010 and the Facebook IPO debacle.

• Business on Wall Street Continues in Wake of Irene - 29 August 2011

Despite the fury of Hurricane Irene battering New York over the weekend, leaving a trail of destruction, transport systems disrupted and approximately four million people without power, Wall Street plans to operate as usual on Monday. While expecting trading volumes to be light as the week begins, insurance stocks may get more than the usual attention as storm damage claims start to roll in. Companies in the spotlight this week include MetLife (NYSE:MET), Chubb Corporation (NYSE:CB), and Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL).

• NYSE Non-Compliance Notifications Issued - 25 August 2011

Wall Street investors are hopeful that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will provide some light at the end of the tunnel when he delivers his keynote speech at the annual Kansas City Federal Reserve retreat tomorrow, although analysts caution that expectations of further quantitative easing and other bailout-style measures are unlikely to be met. As double-dip fears continue, the ongoing woes in the US economy are impacting on stock market listed companies to the extent that many no longer meet the criteria for being listed on stock exchanges.

• IPO Activity on Wall Street - 28 July 2011

Historically IPO activity on Wall Street tends to be a feast or famine scenario, and it seems that investors interested in IPOs are in for a feast right now as a number of companies in different sectors go public. Having made its debut as a stock market listed company on Wednesday, Dunkin' Brands traded up from the original list price. Shares were priced at $19, but opened at $25 and closed the day at $27,85 – up 46.6 percent. As the holding company of Dunkin' Donuts and the Baskin Robbins chain of stores, Dunkin' Brands trades on NASDAQ under the symbol of DNKN.

• LinkedIn Trading on NYSE - 19 may 2011

Considered to be the most anticipated initial public offering to come out of Silicon Valley in years, LinkedIn will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday May 19, under the symbol LNKD. The social networking service aimed at bringing professionals together has been operating for eight years, and is now in the position to go public. Investors were eager to buy into Linked In, with its top of the range IPO share price at $45, valuing the company at $4.25 billion. The last American-owned Silicon Valley company to go public was Google, seven years ago. If this move by LinkedIn proves successful, it may well open the gates for other social media companies such as Twitter, Facebook, Groupon and Zynga to do the same.

• Rival Bids for NYSE Undergo Regulatory Scrutiny - 21 April 2011

As the battle between Nasdaq and the Deutsche Börse continues, with the New York Stock Exchange as the prize, regulatory authorities are examining all options on the table to ensure that no antitrust laws are violated. The US Department of Justice is looking at how competition in equity listings may be affected in the event of a takeover by Nasdaq, as well a the impact on US companies trying to raise capital in the country in the event of foreign ownership proposed by the Deutsche Börse deal.