Trading Hours Change Could Affect Reporters

By Kevin Sweeney
January 28, 2005 03:56 PM

Timing is everything.

That's the theme business journalists can take from recent reports of the New York Stock Exchange considering the possibility of expanding its trading hours. Not only might this force West Coast traders to become nocturnal, but it may also change the game for company releases and conference calls.

"It could certainly lead to companies making more announcements the afternoon/evening before the next day's trading and it could also impact the scheduling of conference calls," says Stephen Simpson, chartered financial analyst and a contributor to The Motley Fool. "Reporters would probably have to adjust like all of us -- get up earlier and work more."

Though no date has been specified, NYSE CEO John Thain said that opening one hour earlier was a "good guess" in an interview Friday on CNBC.

A change in the trading hours could increase the hours spent by journalists in the newsroom to track breaking news, particularly for the online versions of a publication.

Additional revenue for the NYSE is reportedly one of the main drivers behind the consideration of longer hours.

For European investors -- a group the expansion aims to accommodate -- an earlier start may increase activity due to the overseas time difference. But for American traders, an extra hour could do little to further stimulate volume.

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