Reuters North American News Service, February 4th, 2008
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Super Bowl hysteria slowed the
business of Wall Street Monday but propelled a cottage industry
in championship merchandise as New Yorkers celebrated the Giants'
upset victory in the U.S. football championship.
Fans, stripped to the waist, celebrated in the chill
Sunday night after the New York Giants, who actually play their
games across the Hudson River in New Jersey, shocked the
previously undefeated New England Patriots, 17-14.
The celebration will continue Tuesday, when New York
City stages a ticker-tape parade in the so-called Canyon of
Heroes, a stretch of Broadway in the Financial District where
heads of state and war victors have been feted.
The biggest game in American football put the frenzied U.S.
presidential campaign on hold for a few hours as advertisers paid
some $2.7 million for a 30-second ad in the television event of
the year.
The celebratory hangover lasted into Monday morning, when
some financial trades were put on hold by dealers still giddy
with victory.
"I knew trading flows from the New York desks would be
close to nil. And I was right: There's so much stuff going on
with the markets but let's face it, those traders are probably
not even at their desks yet," said Greg Salvaggio, a senior
currency trader at Tempus Consulting in Washington.
"New York will have to literally sober up before we see
some trading action out of there," he said.
Thomas di Galoma, head of U.S. government bond trading at
Jefferies & Co. in New York, estimated trading volume was 15 to
20 percent below the daily average.
"It was such a big win. A lot of people just decided not to
come in. We are going to see the same sort of thing (on
Tuesday)," di Galoma said, referring to the parade.
At 10:04 a.m. EST, U.S. Treasury trading volume
totals of $81.1 billion were 34 percent below the 20-day average
of $123.7 billion at the same hour, according to bond broker
ICAP.
The Patriots, who play their games about 25 miles
south of Boston, were heavily favored after having gone 18-0 until
the Super Bowl. Their defeat added a new chapter to the New
York-Boston rivalry in sports, culture and entertainment.
"Business is very quiet this morning. I think it's more a
function of Boston being completely emotionally crushed than it is
New York being unable to execute trades -- we're operational,"
said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in
Jersey City, New Jersey.
One Patriots fan working in New York said he had trouble
reaching Giants fans on the phone before the market opened.
"I have been trying to overcompensate (for the loss) by
focusing on the market even more. Unfortunately that's been
hard to do this morning with everyone talking football," said
Edward Bretschger, director of equity sales and trading at
Calyon Securities.
The Chinese New Year also put a damper on trade, and at
least one dealer attributed lackluster dealing to a the typical
Monday blahs.
Merchants cranked out hats and T-shirts freshly stamped
with the Giants logo and identifying the team as the champions
of Super Bowl XLII, the Roman numeral for 42.
Department store Macy's offered a football made of
Waterford crystal stamped with the Giants's NY logo. The price:
$185. Commerce marched on.
(Additional reporting by Vivianne Rodrigues, Richard Leong,
Kristina Cooke, Janet McGurty and Caroline Valetkevitch, editing
by Vicki Allen)
