The Pacific Exchange was a
regional stock exchange in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, from 1956 to 2006. Its main exchange floor and building were in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
, with a branch building in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
In 1882, the
San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange
The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange was a regional stock exchange based in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1882, in 1928 the exchange purchased and began using the name San Francisco Stock Exchange, while the old San Fran ...
was founded; and in 1899 the Los Angeles Oil Exchange was founded. In 1956, these two exchanges merged to create the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange, with
trading floor
Open outcry is a method of communication between professionals on a stock exchange or futures exchange, typically on a trading floor. It involves shouting and the use of hand signals to transfer information primarily about buy and sell order ...
s maintained in both cities.
In 1973, it was renamed the Pacific Stock Exchange. The Pacific Exchange was bought by
Archipelago Holdings in 2005, which merged with the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...
in 2006.
Pacific Exchange equities and options trading now take place exclusively through the
NYSE Arca
NYSE Arca, previously known as ArcaEx, an abbreviation of Archipelago Exchange, is an exchange on which both stocks and options are traded. It was owned by Intercontinental Exchange. It merged with the New York Stock Exchange in 2006 and now op ...
platform.
History
Two separate exchanges were founded; the
San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange
The San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange was a regional stock exchange based in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1882, in 1928 the exchange purchased and began using the name San Francisco Stock Exchange, while the old San Fran ...
in 1882 and the
Los Angeles Oil Exchange in 1899. In 1956, they merged to create the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange, though separate
trading floor
Open outcry is a method of communication between professionals on a stock exchange or futures exchange, typically on a trading floor. It involves shouting and the use of hand signals to transfer information primarily about buy and sell order ...
s were maintained in both cities. In 1973, it was renamed the Pacific Stock Exchange and it began trading
options three years later in 1976.
In 1999, the exchange became the first U.S. stock exchange to
demutualize
Demutualization is the process by which a customer-owned mutual organization (''mutual'') or co-operative changes legal form to a joint stock company. It is sometimes called stocking or privatization. As part of the demutualization process, mem ...
. The trading floor in Los Angeles was closed in 2001, followed by the floor in San Francisco a year later. 2003 saw the exchange launch
PCX Plus, an electronic options trading platform.
By 2005, the Pacific Exchange was bought by the owner of the ArcaEx platform,
Archipelago Holdings, which then merged with the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...
in 2006.
The New York Stock Exchange conducts no business operations under the name Pacific Exchange, essentially ending its separate identity. Pacific Exchange equities and options trading now takes place exclusively through the
NYSE Arca
NYSE Arca, previously known as ArcaEx, an abbreviation of Archipelago Exchange, is an exchange on which both stocks and options are traded. It was owned by Intercontinental Exchange. It merged with the New York Stock Exchange in 2006 and now op ...
(formerly known as ArcaEx) platform, an
Electronic communication network (ECN), as NYSE Arca Equities and NYSE Arca Options, respectively.
San Francisco Pacific Exchange building history
The San Francisco Pacific Exchange building, which once housed the equities trading floor, is located on Pine Street at the corner of Sansome Street in the
Financial District in San Francisco. The building was initially designed in a
neoclassical style
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...
by architect
Milton Dyer
J. Milton Dyer (April 22, 1870 – May 27, 1957) was a prominent Cleveland, Ohio architect.
Background
Dwyer was born in Middletown, Pennsylvania where his father had a hardware business. in 1915.
It was remodeled in 1930 by the firms Miller and Pflueger, architects
James Rupert Miller
James Rupert Miller (June 27, 1869 – August 23, 1946) was an architect active in San Francisco, California in the first half of the 20th century. Miller gained prominence after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake when his firm was one among many ...
and
Timothy Pflueger; and the interior design was done by architect Michael Goodman.
The exterior building sculptures were created in Yosemite
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...
by artist
Ralph Stackpole.
Sketches made by Pflueger for the remodel of this building can be found in the permanent collection at
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...
.
After the 1930 remodeling, the building was in an Art Deco
Moderne style, with its street facade was clad in
Yule marble.
The building was sold to private developers and converted by
Equinox Fitness
Equinox Group is an American luxury fitness company which operates several lifestyle brands: Equinox, Equinox Hotels, Precision Run, Project by Equinox, Equinox Explore, Equinox Media, Furthermore, PURE Yoga, Blink Fitness, and SoulCycle. Wit ...
into a fitness center.
Mills Building
An options trading floor in the city of San Francisco still operates in the adjacent
Mills Building on the second floor.
It was originally connected to the main building and underwent an expansion in September 1984 and expanded again in the mid-1990s with major changes to the layout.
See also
*
Los Angeles Stock Exchange Building
The historic Los Angeles Stock Exchange Building, also called the Pacific Stock Exchange Building, is located in the Spring Street Financial District within the Historic Core in Los Angeles. It was the headquarters of the Los Angeles Stock Excha ...
*
List of former stock exchanges in the Americas
*
List of stock exchange mergers in the Americas
*
*
References
External links
San Francisco Chronicle: "Exchange Ending an Era. Pacific is phasing out its historic stock trading floor."Youtube.com: SF options floor live trading in 1997— ''filmed by a floor broker''.
First Cut episode: "What options trading really is"
{{Authority control
Former stock exchanges in the United States
Buildings and structures in San Francisco
Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles
Economy of Los Angeles
Economy of San Francisco
Self-regulatory organizations in the United States
Buildings and structures completed in 1930
Buildings and structures completed in 1931
1930s architecture in the United States
Moderne architecture in California
2006 disestablishments