Worst Storm in 100 Years...Exchanges Close Trading Floors

Worst Storm in 100 Years Seen for Northeast U.S.By Brian K. Sullivan and Matthew Brown - Oct 26, 2012 6:14 PM GMT+0530, 

Hurricane Sandy will probably grow into a “Frankenstorm” that may become the worst to hit the U.S. Northeast in 100 years if current forecasts are correct.Sandy may combine with a second storm coming out of the Midwest to create a system that would rival the New Englandhurricane of 1938 in intensity, said Paul Kocin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in College Park, Maryland. The hurricane currently passing the Bahamas has killed 21 people across the Caribbean, the Associated Press reported, citing local officials.“What we’re seeing in some of our models is a storm at an intensity that we have not seen in this part of the country in the past century,” Kocin said in a telephone interview yesterday. “We’re not trying to hype it, this is what we’re seeing in some of our models. It may come in weaker.”The hybrid storm may strike anywhere from the Delaware- Maryland-Virginia peninsula to southern New England. The current National Hurricane Center track calls for the system to go up Delaware Bay and almost directly over Wilmington, Delaware, just southwest of Philadelphia, on Oct. 30-31.The hurricane center warns the track is subject to change.

Sandy’s Impact

“Users are reminded to not focus on the details of the track forecast late in the period, as Sandy is expected to bring impacts to a large part of the U.S. East Coast early next week,” the center said.A tropical-storm watch was issued from Savannah River northward to Oregon Inlet in North Carolina, the NHC said in an advisory. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Florida’s east coast from Ocean Reef to Flagler Beach. A storm watch means tropical storm conditions are possible within the region, a warning means tropical storm conditions are expected.As of 8 a.m. New York time, Sandy was a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 80 miles (129 kilometers) per hour, down from 100 mph earlier, according to the hurricane center in Miami. It was 15 miles east of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas and 480 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South, Carolina, moving northwest at 10 mph.............http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-25/u-s-east-from-washington-to-nyc-at-risk-from-hurricane-sandy.html

Exchanges Close Trading Floors as Hurricane Sandy Nears

By Nina Mehta, Whitney Kisling and Inyoung Hwang - Oct 29, 2012 6:13 AM GMT+0530The New York Stock Exchange and New York Mercantile Exchange canceled floor trading as Hurricane Sandy barreled toward New York City with the threat of a 10-foot storm surge and winds of 70 miles per hour.

The market operators said trading would occur normally on their electronic platforms. NYSE Euronext took the action after city and state officials declared emergencies and suspended public transportation, according to a statement on its website. The NYSE plans to maintain the contingency plan for using its Arca exchange through Oct. 30, Joseph Mecane, head of U.S. equities, said on a conference call in which some member firms opposed opening the stock market at all.“It was a very tough call,” Larry Leibowitz, the chief operating officer of NYSE Euronext, said in a telephone interview. “It was mostly done out of an abundance of caution. This isn’t a war. Why would we ask for heroic action by putting people in harm’s way and separating them from their families during something that seems like a 100-year storm?”..........http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-28/nymex-to-close-floor-for-sandy-as-nyse-nasdaq-see-normal-open.html