[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

Stock exchanges across the country have closed today in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy.  As the hurricane approaches the East Coast, the markets aren't taking any chances.  Duncan Niederauer, CEO of the NYSE’s parent company, NYSE Euronext, told CNBC Monday morning that it was ‘‘hard to imagine’’ that the exchange would open on Tuesday.

Another First. This is the first unplanned closing of the NYSE closed since the terrorist attacks of September 2001.  Even Mr. Niederauer was inclined to keep the markets open, until he realized "how much people would have to staff up if we are operating electronically," he told CNBC.  Indeed, the risks were determined to be too great.

A New York report:

• the city's mass transit system was closed down
• areas around the Financial District in lower Manhattan were part of a mandatory evacuation zone.
• Sandy, still set to make landfall later Monday, is expected to push waters into portions of lower Manhattan.

If the closure of the NYSE is extended to Tuesday, it would be the first time since 1888 that weather caused a 2-day shutdown of the exchange [C-I Note: water flooding lower Manhattan probably won't compare to the 1888 blizzard that left drifts as high as 40 feet in the streets of New York City].

How New York is America? Across the country, Nasdaq and the CME Group in Chicago will also close.  CME Group’s Nymex headquarters and New York trading floor are located in the mandatory evacuation zone in Manhattan.  As imagined, it's New York trading floor will be closed, but it's electronic markets were functioning  [C-I Note: an edge over New York's current status?]

For further details, go to [Boston Globe, 10/29/12].