Those were difficult times--when the future of the exchange's floor-based auction system was in doubt.
The outdoor-ad auction system is run by Vistar Media, which launched the exchange in January.
Some exchanges remain stubbornly rooted in the auction system, though that seems likely to change, too.
But specialists are important at times of high volatility, as Thain is careful to point out in defending the auction system.
In Adwords, businesses use an auction system on the Google site to bid for the most popularly searched words and phrases.
Eventually, automated ad sales could bring down the price of ads, as an auction system lets bidders set their price.
Mr. FINE: How this works is essentially Google has an auction system in place by which advertisers can come in.
However, the new real time advertising auction system that the company is bringing out might well change some part of that.
FORBES: The Importance of Facebook's New Real Time Advertising auctions
Unlike a casual offer at an airport kiosk, the auction system can generate excitement as fliers strategize about how to win.
WSJ: El Al, Virgin Atlantic Are Airlines That Auction Upgrades to Business Class
Monday's slide of the Egyptian pound came on the second day of trading under a new dollar auction system aimed at regulating the devaluation.
It is awaiting regulatory approval of its hybrid plan, which would increase electronic trading of listed stocks but still preserve its 200-year-old auction system using specialists on the exchange floor.
Privately, however, SIA attendees say what the merger really represents is the beginning of the end of the open-outcry auction system that makes NYSE and some other exchanges unique.
The auction system that dominates the NYSE floor operations "will sink or swim on whether it continues to add value, " says David Humpreville, the president of the Specialists Association at the NYSE.
The NYSE has been battling competition from more-electronically oriented trading networks as well as dealing with public relations and regulatory problems that have called into question the effectiveness of its floor-based auction system.
If successful, he'll design an auction system so the government can buy some very complex assets at the right price high enough to infuse money back into banks, but not so high that it bilks taxpayers.
Earlier this year, the government launched a new dollar auction system, which complements existing state-run currency channels, in a bid to pump more hard currency into the private sector, but economists have so far questioned how effective the mechanism will be in satisfying demand.
WSJ: Venezuelan President Nicol��s Maduro Reshuffles Cabinet
Blizzard has been busy pushing hotfixes onto their on-and-off broken auction house system, in an effort to quell the rage of the unhappy Diablo III community.
FORBES: Diablo III's Real Money Auction House Delayed Once Again
Twitter also dropped the minimum bid for its auction-based ad system from 50 cents to a penny.
FORBES: Twitter Launches Ads Targeted To Interests--Starting At A Penny
To see the system at work, look at auction-rate securities, a sort of long-term debt invented in the 1980s.
The Dutch auction allows "a better price-discovery system, " Hambrecht says.
Obama's plans to finance an ambitious clean energy agenda by imposing a de facto carbon-emissions tax in the form of an auction-based cap-and-trade system has set the stage for an epic showdown on Capitol Hill over carbon emissions and energy legislation.
They provide an essential support system to artists and collectors, something the auction houses are simply not set up to do.
Last January, the Fed started lending through its term auction facility twice a month in order to flood the financial system with cash.
Also like Mr Obama, he proposes a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases, but he would give away the permits, not auction them.
ECONOMIST: Introduction: The battle of hope and experience | The
Under a cap-and-trade system, a regulatory body allocates CO2 emission allowances to companies, typically by way of auction, but sometimes for no cost.
They could still close down or auction off banks run by thieves, which make it impossible for Russia to develop a functioning credit system.
"Because of the room created by unifying categories, the current SEBI auction mechanism allocating debt limits for corporate bonds will be replaced by an "on-tap" system currently in place for infrastructure bonds, " the minister said.
应用推荐