Co-Founder Josh Matthews will be Ringing The Closing Bell on the NYSE on Wednesday 26th April – Watch Live on Bloomberg

Written by Josh Matthews, HBA

Josh Matthews, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of MASECO Private Wealth, will be ringing The Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, 26th April at 4pm EST (9pm BST). This bell signifies the start and end of each day’s trading session. Historically, the bell was a critical part of the orderly functioning of the marketplace and ensured that no trades took place before the opening or after the close.

Josh said about his upcoming participation in this traditional NYSE closing ceremony: “I am honoured to be chosen to ring the bell at the NYSE and be part of such an iconic moment representing MASECO Private Wealth with our friends from Avantis. Our mission has always been to provide great service and sound advice for our clients, and ringing the bell is a great symbol and recognition of our team’s hard work and commitment to excellence in the financial services industry.”

This once-in-a-lifetime experience video will be shared on our website after the event but be sure to watch Josh on Bloomberg TV or CNBC where they normally broadcast live from the NYSE during their ‘Closing Bell’ segment. Join us as we celebrate with Josh Matthews and ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange next Wednesday! Click here to watch Bloomberg Live on your computer.

Some History on the Bell[1]

Bells were first used at the New York Stock Exchange in the 1870s with the advent of continuous trading. A Chinese gong was the original sound of choice. But in 1903, when the Exchange moved to its current building, the gong was replaced by a brass bell – electrically operated and large enough in size to resonate throughout the voluminous main trading floor. Today, each of the four trading areas of the NYSE has its own bell, operated synchronously from a single control panel.

The brass bells functioned without incident until the late 1980s, when the NYSE decided the time had come to refurbish them and purchase a new one for backup. With that decision, the Exchange learned just how unusual its bells really were. Initially, the Exchange had a hard time identifying the manufacturer of the bells – a firm with which the NYSE had not done business in more than 80 years. After some digging, the NYSE rediscovered the manufacturer was the G. S. Edwards Company of Norwalk, Connecticut. When the NYSE delegate explained that they wanted to purchase a new bell, measuring 18 inches in diameter and matching the old one, representatives of the Edwards Company were surprised, as neither Edwards nor any other company, makes bells anywhere near that large – or loud – today.

After convincing some former employees out of retirement for this project, Edwards agreed to make a new bell from scratch for the NYSE. Sound measurements were taken, and the tone of the bell was matched to the NYSE’s existing bells.  The current Bell is now almost 40 years old and is rung every day the exchange is open in the morning to open trading and at the close to end trading.

[1] The Bell | NYSE as of 20th April 2023