Hot Take: Where is the center of the investing universe?

So, the interns went to see the floor of the NYSE last week. We had a happy hour later in the week, and I told them that it was basically just a TV set. Surprisingly, they were a lot less surprised than my parents were when I told them the same thing. (These post-millennials, they just automatically assume everything is electronic)

This got me thinking: Where would you define the center of the investing universe is? 20 years ago 11 Wall was the obvious answer, but where do you think it is today? Midtown? London? Frankfurt? Hong Kong? Malvern, PA?

I'm going to put my vote towards a nondescript red brick building right off of 17 in Mahwah, New Jersey. The NYSE data center probably processes more trades than any other place in the world. Yes there are other US exchanges like NASDAQ, BATS, etc if it goes down, but it sits at the hub of the financial system as it stands today.

 

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