Sorry Sandy, but you’re not all that special. At least where the stock market is concerned.
Over the decades, a number of weather events have shuttered floor trading of stocks on Wall Street. Who could forget the blizzard of 1888, which shut trading on March 12-13 of that year? Just shy of 100 years later, Hurricane Gloria finagled another day off for traders on Sep. 27, 1985. In between, a number of snowstorms and some extremely hot days either shortened or closed trading.
And then there are a range of other events that curtailed trading over the years, such as the outbreak of war, assassinations of US presidents and terrorist attacks. But there have been some downright unusual days off too. Here are some of the more interesting.
June 13, 1927: Parade for Charles A. Lindbergh after his New York to Paris flight.
May 25, 1946: As part of the much-forgotten wave of post-World War II strikes, a showdown between railroad workers and President Harry Truman prompts the closure of the exchange.
July 14, 1977: After lightning hits transmission lines north of New York City, a blackout that lasts more than a day in some parts of the city forces the closure of the stock exchange.
July 21, 1969: National Day of Participation honoring the Apollo 11 moon landing.
June 12 – Dec. 31, 1968 : A massive paperwork backlog that developed in the late 1960s along with a surge in trading volume forces the NYSE to move to a four-day week—closed Wednesdays—as clerks try to get caught up.