We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.


May Day

  

Categories: Marketing

May 1st, 1975. It was a cool Thursday in New York City. The temperature was in the low 50s, and there was a slight breeze in the air. But over on Wall Street, things were beginning to heat up, because on this day—known now as “May Day”—something historic happened: brokers were, for the first time ever, allowed to charge variable commissions.

That’s right: the requirement for fixed-rate commissions was officially a thing of the past. Brokers could charge different fees based on the size of the trade.

This was a game-changer for ordinary everyday investors who’d previously felt priced out of stock market fun, and it also opened the door for a new era of broker competition.

All in all, it was a big day, which is why we celebrate it by having a bunch of girls dance around a really tall wooden pole and wrap it in ribbons.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What makes a fair market...fair...0 Views

00:00

Finance allah shmoop what makes a market fair Well fairness

00:09

Okay so what is farewell Honest advertising for one like

00:13

if we're talking about the market for stocks and buns

00:15

A company can't claim they have a billion dollars of

00:18

profits this year when they don't Yeah regulators are picky

00:21

about accuracy that way Too many liars cheats and deceivers

00:25

stole money from hardworking farmers in the history of this

00:28

country So the feds come down hard for good reason

00:31

on those whose pants are you know on fire So

00:34

yeah honesty in Numbers is 1 definition of fair Another

00:38

is full disclosure The numbers might be accurate technically but

00:43

they're not really reflective of how well or poorly the

00:45

company actually did Like a discount rectal thermometer company might

00:50

have technically made eighty million bucks in the quarter But

00:53

if only twenty million of that profit came from the

00:55

selling of invasive temperature taking devices and sixty million came

01:00

from wild currency swings Because the company had tons of

01:03

exposure to zimbabwean dollars which had a meteoric rise in

01:07

the quarter when china agreed to take over debt payments

01:11

on all of the countries obligations in return for well

01:14

basically owning the country Then the sixty million of currency

01:18

gain on the zimbabwean dollars would be a thing the

01:20

company would have to very loudly disclosed Well odds are

01:24

good that miraculous swings like this won't happen again next

01:27

quarter Or maybe ever It's not the business that they're

01:30

in So what else makes a market fair Strict laws

01:34

Maybe an arbiter for when those laws are broken not

01:38

selling your data if you don't agree to allow them

01:40

to do so Yeah all of the above What do 00:01:42.359 --> [endTime] you think makes a market fair What a concept

Up Next

Finance: What is Compensation: Advisory Fee Limits?
2 Views

What is Compensation: Advisory Fee Limits? Advisory fees are paid to financial professionals for managing client funds. In general, the market dete...

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)