STOCK EXCHANGE CLOSED TUESDAY
Nasdaq to close Tuesday; NYSE too?
Nasdaq market cites national day of mourning for Ford; NYSE, other markets also expected to close.
December 28 2006: 7:42 PM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The nation's financial markets are expected to be closed Tuesday to honor former President Gerald Ford, who died Tuesday.
The Nasdaq stock market said Thursday it will be closed on Jan. 2 to honor the 38th president. The New York Stock Exchange is expected to make a similar announcement, a spokesman for the exchange said.
President Gerald Ford
In the past, the nation's bond and commodity markets have also closed on such days.
Ford, who became president in 1974 after the resignation of Richard Nixon, died at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93.
At his ranch in Crawford, Texas, President Bush Thursday declared Jan. 2 a national day of mourning for Ford, closing most federal offices for the day.
Day of mourning for Ford
Ford's body will be flown to Washington on Saturday and his casket will lie in state at the Capitol. Bush is due to speak at a service in his memory on Tuesday, a White House spokesman told Reuters.
President Ford served on the board of the NASD from 1999-2000, before the Nasdaq stock market was spun off from its former parent. Ford's "leadership and invaluable service during his time on the NASD board contributed to what the Nasdaq is today," Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld said in a statement.
The day of a president's funeral has traditionally been a national day of mourning. Most recently financial markets were closed on Friday, Jun. 11, 2004 after President Reagan died.
Throughout the 20th century, the NYSE traditionally has observed the death of former and sitting presidents by closing for an entire day.
Former President William McKinley's funeral was the first to be so honored on Thursday, Sept. 19, 1901.
Five presidents were honored with partial closings: Herbert Hoover (1964), William Howard Taft (1930), Woodrow Wilson (1924), Theodore Roosevelt (1919), and Grover Cleveland (1908).
Benjamin Harrison, whose funeral was held on March 13, 1901, was not honored with a memorial closing. There are no records to indicate the reasoning.
PETE
GO GATORS
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AI
