Long ago, when phones had cords, there were these things called telephone booths. There was an actual phone in a big box. You could run into one and use the phone while you were out and about in public (remember: at this time, no one had cell phones), or you could throw up on the floor, or change into a superhero outfit...really, whatever you wanted to do in a 3x3 room with a live phone line.
In the finance world, the name "telephone booth" also got applied to trading desks at the NYSE. Basically, these setups consisted of a cubicle and a phone. Exchange members could use them to take orders. We're also talking about pre-Internet times here, so very little computer trading existed at that point. Using phones represented the height of technology.
Hey, at least we aren't talking about sending orders to the NYSE via telegraph, or by a relay of fast ponies stationed throughout Manhattan.
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Finance: What is a Floor Broker v. Floor...13 Views
Finance allah shmoop What is ah floor broker versus a
floor trader All right Well here's a floor fixer and
here's a floor broker but okay Shocking a floor broker
Brokers stocks on the floor of a stock exchange Right
Well here's the new york stock exchange here's its floor
These guys down here they're floor brokers That is they're
trading stocks and other securities on behalf of their clients
Basically this is the scene from trading places with eddie
murphy Great old film Old rich white guys in a
building up here Call down to their guys on the
floor who execute their bidding All right well it's a
bunch of brokers all trading their clients stocks right here
and here And here and here and here all over
the world within among each other So that money is
well pushed around thoroughly like that Cato's in grandma's hash
browns recipe Note that a floor broker is different from
a floor trader Who although he or she works on
the floor of an exchange also makes trades as a
principal for his or her own account So yeah that's
floor broker No jackhammer required Thank you very much Go
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