I think he has more to do with personel than with technology. And I think the NYSE has always thought of themselve more important than they actually are. This idea that they can't be closed for 2 week days in a row is dumb. Fixed income markets and FX markets on the other hand are important because real commerce can't be done without them.
The problem is people taking the day off. It does not matter if they are open or close people do not trade them.
How many trades are actually initiated from the area? I would guess the percentage isn't as big as people think.
It is not just NYC, it is everywhere. Today is basically a holiday. It is the same logic of snow days in grade school when 0.4 inches of snow falls. The world revolves around Wall st, London. Volumes are always low on these kinds of days, especially in equities.
Low volume doesn't stop trading, opportunities are still there. It only affects northeastern US though. Trading should become more decentralized, I find it odd that in this day and age it still has such a big effect.
Closed today, possibly closed tomorrow. With the elections coming up, people might take the rest of the week off. And then very soon after boom, there's thanksgiving. Maybe we should forget about 2012 and take a 2 month holiday.
Holiday trading is different from other days. Because they are rarer and everyone has less expirence with them, they are more difficult. Even day trading is hard with the low volatiility.
Worst of it to hit NYC overnight tonight. Sustained winds to 80mph through the early am Tuesday (will peak around 8am Eastern tomorrow). Good online feed from ABC: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/livenow?id=8857235 NYSE unlikely to open tomorrow as storm surge and winds likely to be peaking during morning rush.