Wall Street Remembers

September 11, 2002

Michael DeSenne of The Street writes:

THE BUSINESS OF making money will resume on Wall Street, but only after America paid tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Thousands gathered Wednesday morning at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, including many workers from the nearby New York Stock Exchange, to honor those killed one year ago. Similar ceremonies took place across the country. The NYSE and the Nasdaq Stock Market were scheduled to open for regular trading around 11 a.m. ET, following the conclusion of memorial services.

On the eve of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, neither terror alerts nor earnings warnings could spark a sell-off in equities. By Tuesday's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 83 points higher to 8602, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 was up 6 at 909. The Nasdaq Composite index gained 15 to 1320. As expected, trading volume was light.

A midday swoon notwithstanding, buyers refused to let a decision to raise the nation's level of alert ahead of 9/11 drag down equities. It's the first time a countrywide "code orange," which indicates a credible threat of terrorist activity, was declared by the federal government since the color system was put into place last year. The only level of alert higher than orange is red. Attorney General John Ashcroft said recent intelligence information pointed to possible attacks on U.S. interests abroad, especially in the Middle East and South Asia