seat

Seat

Membership to the NYSE.

Notes:

Owning a seat on the NYSE enables one to trade on the floor of the exchange, as an agent either for someone else (floor broker) or for one's own personal account (floor trader). The phrase "owning a seat on the exchange" originates in a time before 1871, until which the exchange operated in a 'call-market' fashion, which means stocks were traded individually. With this type of trading, each member would sit in an assigned seat and participate in the buying and selling of desired stocks as they were called for trading.

See also: Agent, Broker, Exchange, Floor Broker, Floor Trader, Market, Member Firm, NYSE, Specialist

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Seat

Position of membership on a securities or commodity exchange, bought and sold at market prices.

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seat

Membership on an organized securities exchange. Because the number of seats on an exchange is generally fixed, membership may be acquired only by purchasing a seat from an existing owner at a negotiated or an offered price.