Profile of FIONNUALA MARTIN

In the beginning there was the TSE, then along came fiesty Fionnuala in 1979. Under the tutelage of Tommy Milligan, she transitioned from phone clerk (a strategy designed to get her to pay attention to her duties) to option's floor trader during the crazy days of the National Energy Program and Robert Bond and Jimmy Barkwell. From there Fionnuala waddled with the tuxedo'd traders from 234 Bay St to the new trading floor where she had already made her mark as the champion of women's rights. Without her, there might not have been a women's washroom on the trading floor.

Fionnuala moved from options market making to a virtual marriage with Mike Mazulla becoming Fionnuala Mazulla. From equity trading she moved to the Exchange as a Floor Official along side John Manna who turned out to be one of her most valuable mentors (thank you John). She experienced the excitement of Black Monday and the fabulous Friday's when the 33333s kept spirits high. How she survived Bainbride, Chisholm and Christie no one knows for sure but working with Jimmy Taugher and Kenny Assgraber as staff support for the Trading Floor Committee were some of her most memorable and positive experiences. Rumour has it Fionnuala left the TSX to have a baby but if you look hard enough you can find her under the falling marble tiles of BMONB thrilled that she has been fortunate enough to have worked in this industry.

Remembering 9/11/2001

On September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. shook the entire trading community to its core. Traders watched with horror as events started to unfold between 9:00 and 9:15 am. Everyone was stunned from the fact that what initially appeared to be an accident soon became an apparent sinister attack.

The New York Stock Exchange was evacuated at 9:25 am, without any announcement about trading. In Toronto, the market opened at 9:30 am and immediately went into a free fall. Buyers were pulling their orders and sellers were dumping at whatever bids existed. At 11:30 am, the TSE finally closed the markets.

On September 17, the U.S. markets suffered a huge sell-off. The Dow Jones lost 685 points. However, its 7.1% drop was less than the 22.5% plunge on October 19, 1987. NASDAQ fell 116 points, or 6.8%. On the other hand, the TSE closed up 17 points, after a 6.5% decline in the week of 9/11 while the U.S. markets were closed.

- With help from Fred Ketchen & John Manna

The TSE Trading Floor - October 24, 1852 to April 18, 1997

In the winter of 1970, my dad, a career stockbroker, took me on a tour of the Toronto Stock Exchange, then housed in a fabulous art deco building just south of King on Bay Street. Hundreds of men in close circumstances were yelling, chanting a strange mantra of acronyms, numbers and fractions. I don't remember much else, except that we walked from the public gallery down to the floor of the exchange, where I witnessed a trade. Twenty-seven years later, I walked onto the trading floor again as the significant of that previous moment was about to fade forever. On April 18, after nearly 145 years, the TSE fell silent for the last time, passing quietly into cyberspace.In a business wherein it was considered something of an innovation to provide paper receipts for buyers and sellers of stock, this final step into the ether represents a literal dehumanizing of the marketplace. On my recent visit, I made my way over to one of the three remaining trading posts to meet Jimmy and Matt Taugher, a father-and-son team with a combined sixty-odd years of experience as floor traders. Father Jimmy had been on the floor for forty-four years.

"His last job," said Matt, "was as a waiter at the Last Supper."

"His first investment," a fellow trader chimed in, "was the wheel. When he started, IBM was a penny stock."

"You ask me what I'm going to miss the most in here," said Jimmy. "It's that stuff - the joking, the camaraderies."

"It's true," Matt added. "With today's technology, you can sit out there in your boathouse talking to yourself all day while making trades."

Less than a week later, Jimmy and Matt and five other partners moved into rented space to join the rest of the world trading stocks online. In place of the trading floor and its public galleries, the TSE plans to split the room into two floors of office space.

As I made my way out of the building, it occurred to me that there would never again be an "out there" and "in here". The trading will be nowhere and everywhere. "On the day of the crash in '87," recalled Jimmy Taugher, "they say you could hear us all the way out on the street." Today, the sound of boom and bust is silence.

- This article was written by Douglas Bell, special to Toronto Life, May 1997

Featuring Next Week...

Are the rumors true - has Fionnuala really left the TSE to have a baby?

Find out about Fionnuala and more, next week at the TSE Traders Archive!


Have a great weekend!

Job Posting: Broom Clerk

Broom Clerk wanted to remove massive amounts of paper from the floor, Mondays to Fridays. He will be required to effectively remove all papers to prepare for the next trading day, in which the floors will be covered completely in paper by the end of day.

Although the job may seem futile, it is an absolutely essential part in running a safe trading environment.

If interested, apply below.

Profile of DAVID TURNER

In April of 1954 Ralph Longbotham hired me as a post boy ("You can’t see across the street from Ralph’s office"). Six months later I moved to Bache and began trading there. Next I went to Wisener MacKellar, Mcleod Young Weir, May Mikilla, Goulding Rose and Turner, Bunting, and Nesbitt Burns. And last but not least I went to the TSE with John Manna, which was a very enjoyable and enlightening experience.

From phony stocks to flaming newspapers, there was never a dull moment. If you were working on a project there was always an expert to advise you.

A highlight for me came in August 1980, when my son Joe got his trading papers.

I retired the day the trading floor closed and I am enjoying life immensely. When I am asked if I miss trading, my answer is no, I just miss the people.

Thinking Outside the Box

My favourite story from the floor is one about Bob Beggs. Bob decided to stay downtown one Thursday to have a social evening with some of the traders, drinks I mean. Well, late into the night Bob gets to his GO station and realizes that he doesn’t have enough money to take his $15.00 cab ride to his home. Not wanting to phone his wife Karen to have her retrieve him, Bob walks to a nearby pizza joint. He enquires if they deliver to the area where he lives. The answer was “yes”. He then asks how much it would cost for a pizza. The pizza was going to cost $8.00. Bob then asked if he could ride along with the pizza delivery man when he delivered it to his home. Once again the answer was ‘yes”. This worked out perfect. Bob had $11.00 left in his pocket. He got an $8.00 pizza, tipped the driver $3.00 and a $15.00 taxi ride all for $11.00.

By Ken Rathgeber

Trader Talk at the TSE

Some of the stuff below may be politically incorrect today - but they were a fact of life on the floor.

An old time trader used to shout out when the market was falling: "A rally for the shorts". His name was Fred Bignall with Matthews and Company.

Another old time trader used to shout when the market was falling: "Now here this--- Dive, Dive, Dive." His name was Eddie Behan with A. E. Ames.

New traders often asked about whom to call from a particular firm. A common name given was Bob Loblaw. When yelling the name it sounded like: "Bob Bla La".

One new trader, from the London Stock Exchange was embarrassed when he asked a particular trader on how to cross stock. He was told to yell out in a loud clear voice: "Ally ally ukfey, I have stock to cross today". He did so and to older traders he is still called "Alley Alley". He is still in the business today.

A trader named Jack White was know as "Rinso". At the time a local soap detergent company advertised "rinso whiteness".

A trader whose name was John Steele was know by the name "Stainless".

A trader who dyed his hair a red - orange was called "Rusty".

A trader, who was overweight was called: Willy Lump Lump.

A trader, who was overweight was called: 'Round One".

A trader, whose first name was Ike - was often called "Ike the Dike".

Nobody ever new the real names of "Moose" and "Red". Both worked for Scotia Capital.

A trader named Gerry Reed - was often called "Greedy Reedy".

One of our first RT's, Bill Pirie was often called: "Mr. Big".

One trader with a larger than normal nose was called: "Snorkel".

One trader with a larger than normal nose was called:" Beakie".

One female input operator was often called: "Fatal Attraction".

One trader who used to dye his hair blonde was often called: "Golden".

One trader who chewed gum all the time was called: "Grouper".

One older trader who was follicly challenged used to say: "God created all kinds of heads: round ones, square one and pointed ones, and the ones he didn't like he covered with hair".

One trader who was exceptional tall was called: "Too Tall".

One trader who was tall with a large nose was often called: "Stork".

One trader who had a bad temper was often called: "Charles Manson".

One trader who had a long last name with many different letters was often called: "Rick Alphabet".

One trader who had a large bald spot on the back of his head was called: "Cyclops".

One short trader was often called: "Stumpy".

One trader who had a farm with animals was called: "Cow Pie".

By John Manna