The end of the New York Stock Exchange floor has been predicted for decades. Only now is it finally happening. The New York Times reports that the floor is about half the size of what it was during the peak. It will soon shut two of its trading rooms. It now seems almost like a prop for TV reporters, more a symbol than anything real. I still wonder about the endgame. Once the specialists are gone--they now account for less than one of every 30 trades--what will they do with the floor? Turn it into a museum? For now, the exchange brass thinks the floor has stabilized. Still, I doubt that retail investors would be all that comforted to know that a human is charged with consummating their trade.

For more:
- here's the New York Times article