Memories of the TSE Floor

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In this picture:

Taking a Break

In this picture: Frank Gradini

A Happy Day for Don

In these pictures: Don Bainbridge

Bay Street Calling

In this combined picture: Dave Sears, Mike Binns, Mike Morrison

Laugh of the Day

Stock market comic strips from the Great Depression era:

Memories of the TSE Floor

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Floor Tickets

I know this will seem very obvious to the traders that were actually on the floor but for posterity I thought that it would be a good idea to explain the ticketing process.

Swish, thanks for sending me the actual floor tickets.

Traders carried a “trading book” that contained all of their outstanding orders and trading tickets that were used to legally bind a trade.

The tickets came in pad form with three per page. Each ticket was made up of three parts.

Once the details of trade had been verbally agreed to by the selling broker and the buying broker the following occurred:

1. The seller made out the ticket with all the trade information. In this case Broker #90 (First Canada Securities) is selling 100 shares of BCE (BCE INC) to Broker #85 (Scotia Capital)
2. The seller initialed the trade ticket on the bottom right and marked whether the trade was for a Non-Client (N) which was an employee of the firm or a for a firm inventory account. Alternatively, the trade could have been for a Registered Trader (RT) with an identifier mark that identifies the particular Registered Trader. Tickets that were left blank in this area were for clients. In this case the seller was acting on behalf of a client.
3. The seller then separated the three part auto transfer ticket, keeping the last part for his/her records.
4. The buyer then reviewed the details on the ticket. If the details on the ticket matched what had been verbally agreed to, the trader for #85 would then initial the ticket on the top. In this case the buyer “K” is identified as the Registered Trader.
5. The buyer would then separate the two remaining copies, keeping the second copy for his/her records.
6. The buyer would then pass the top copy (official trade details) to a TSE post clerk who would timestamp the ticket.
7. The ticket would then be passed to a TSE input operator who would then keypunch the information into the TSE system which in turn would post the trade to the ticker.

Trade disputes…very few, but if there was a dispute the original ticket was retrieved. A Floor Governor (member of the Floor Procedure Committee) and a Floor Official would review the floor ticket and compare the initials on the ticket to a record copy of initials. From that review a “ruling” was made as to whether the trade was legitimate or not.

Editorial on the TSE Traders Archive

The TSE Traders Archive has now been running with daily postings since late July and we have had a good deal of praise from all over the country. I would like to thank a number of people for their assistance. Simone Lau, a U.S trader on my desk, who is responsible for the actual creation, day-to-day posts, scanning and design of the Archive. In other words, the hard part. John Manna has been an invaluable contributor. Fred Ketchen, at 70, can still remember a lot of the names from some of the oldest pictures. I would like to particularly thank the individuals that sent me their pictures or profiles.

The reason why Simone and I started the Archive was because we were seeing the TSE Floor Trader’s history starting to disappear. People were losing touch with each other and even worse, people were passing away. Once we started the Archive, we have been constantly surprised to find out that many traders/post clerks/phone clerks and customer service staff don’t even have a picture of themselves on the Floors. Our intention, if we are successful, is to receive enough information/pictures/profiles and stories to publish something for everyone as a memento.

We have been in contact with lots of individuals and have been promised lots of information. It has been like pulling teeth. Promises are late in coming. Please share your information with us and the rest of the street. Mail your items to my address listed on the Archive (on the right panel) and we will return the originals to you.

I would also ask that you pass on the Archive link to your contacts. We know that there is a large population of traders that don’t even know about the site yet.

Trading Jackets

While most of the trading jackets were boring plain colours, Gordon Capital and ScotiaMcLeod (McLeod Young Weir) used their Scottish tartans to identify their traders.

The trading jackets served a useful purpose since it was necessary to quickly identify traders from specific firms. The easier it was to find a trader, the more trades that trader usually made. The McLeod tartan was certainly the easiest to spot.

Here is Ken Rathgeber suited for action in his McLeod tartan jacket. Ken shrewdly pointed out to senior management that he thought getting the McLeod tartan jackets would be good idea. He neglected to tell them that the McLeod clan tartan was his maternal clan.

Ken is holding his trading book containing all of his active orders, and trade tickets. You can also see where he has his trading badge pinned just above his breast pocket. The breast pocket is stuffed with completed trade tickets that will be given to his phone clerk once he returns to the booth for more orders.

Trading Badges

The trading badge used at 234 Bay Street was a simple circular button with your firm name.

After May 9th 1983, a Photo ID was required.

This copy includes:

1. The name of the firm (McLeod)
2. The trading number of the firm (85)
3. The identity of the trader (Ken Rathgeber)
4. A picture of the trader (before he put on 60 pounds)
5. The pink circle indicates that the trader is licensed as a futures trader
6. The yellow circle indicates the trader is a licensed as an options trader
7. The white circle indicates the trader is licensed as an equity trader
8. The RT inserted in the white circle indicates the trader is a Registered Trader (Pro)
9. The blue strip indicates that the trader is a Floor Governor and can make “rulings” on the floor by his interpretation of the rules (Governors also arbitrated trade disputes)
10. Missing from this badge is a gold strip. The gold strip would indicate the trader as a Member seat holder.

Time for a Rally

In this picture: Bruce Caulker, Kevin Thomsen, Marty Whittenbols, Scotty Douglas

Busy at Work

1. In this picture: Barney Donahey, Rob Russell
2. In this picture: Serge Dillon, Iain Davies, Dave Bond, Mike Accera

Busy at Work

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1. In this picture: Dave Sears, Bernie Shapiro
2. In this picture: Steve Welsh, Dave Bond, Scott Douglas

Busy at Work

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1. In this picture: Mike Ferguson, Sue Vader
2. In this picture: Tony Mcfarlane
3. In this picture: Cliff "Cool" Jones, Tom Popowich

Busy at Work

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1. In this picture: Dave "Arnold" Farr, Peter "Scooter" Bowers
2. In this picture: Rob Russell, Bob Christie, Doug Christie
3. In this picture: Norm Rogers, Mike Binns, Barney Donahue, Chuck Faultless, Gordie Bellchambers

Busy at Work

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1. In this picture:
2. In this picture: Scott Douglas, Iain Davies, Brian McConnell, Herman Zander
3. In this picture:

Featuring Next Week...

We will be running a segment titled "Busy at Work" at the TSE Traders Archive.

Send us your work photos or stories!

The Exchange on the Move - May 9, 1983

TSE Senior Floor Staff

In this picture: John Peirson, Laurie Lee, Huntley McKay, John Kolosky, Jack Crumb, Tim Barber