Post-9/11 Wall Street: How Secure Are Markets?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Here's your money briefing for Tuesday, September 7th. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. Imagine not being able to access your stock portfolio for four trading days, all while panic is ripping across the world. That's what happened following the attacks of 9-11 nearly 20 years ago, when systems in New York's financial district were knocked offline.
What caused U.S. stock markets to close for four days after 9/11?
Obviously, people had a lot of other stuff on their minds during the immediate aftermath of 9-11. But for people who wanted to liquidate money market funds to raise cash, that was impossible to do for a couple of days.
So how resilient would stock exchanges be to another attack? And what would it mean for investors? We'll talk with WSJ Markets reporter Alexandra Azapovich about the thick layers of protection that Wall Street has put in place since 9-11 and the new questions about security that come with those changes.
How did severed communications and infrastructure disrupt trading in 2001?
That's after the break.
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What immediate investor impacts occurred during the 9/11 market shutdown?
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Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, when financial markets were knocked offline for four days, Wall Street has undergone a massive security overhaul. But as Americans' investment in stock has skyrocketed in the years since, the wall of security around financial markets has become even more crucial to protecting people's holdings and retirement savings. So what's been done since 9-11, and what new questions about security keep officials up at night? Our markets reporter, Alexander Azapovich, has been studying this, and he's with us now. Alex, thank you for being on the show.
Thank you very much for having me.
So, Alex, can you take us back to 2001 for a moment? What physically happened to force markets to close for four days?
So, when the Twin Towers collapsed, in addition to causing a great loss of life, it also severed very important communications networks that were used by by Wall Street firms. A lot of the phone lines and data lines that connected different banks and brokers to the New York Stock Exchange were severed.
What major security and infrastructure changes did Wall Street make after 9/11?
Initially, when they decided to close the market on the morning of 9-11, they didn't know this. It was just sort of an uncertain situation. They decided to close down the New York Stock Exchange and other exchanges. as a precaution. But then it became clear that there had been all this damage and it took a while to fix.
So what was it like during those four days? You know, what did this mean for investors? Amid the worldwide sense of panic, could they access their accounts and sell positions?
Obviously, people had a lot of other stuff on their minds during the immediate aftermath of 9-11. But for those people who were concerned about their stock positions and things like that, things were basically frozen. You could call up your broker and try to place an order. But generally speaking, orders weren't executed until the markets finally reopened, which happened on Monday, September 17th. There were also some disruptions, for instance, for people who wanted to liquidate money market funds to raise cash.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:54
2
What caused U.S. stock markets to close for four days after 9/11?
0:54–1:23
3
How did severed communications and infrastructure disrupt trading in 2001?
1:23–1:51
4
What immediate investor impacts occurred during the 9/11 market shutdown?
1:51–3:04
5
What major security and infrastructure changes did Wall Street make after 9/11?
3:04–4:43
6
How did electronic trading and dispersed data centers reduce single points of failure?
4:43–7:38
7
Have real-world events like Superstorm Sandy tested post-9/11 market resilience?
7:38–8:41
8
What remaining cybersecurity and retail trading vulnerabilities worry regulators and everyday investors?
8:41–9:16
Speakers
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