New York Stock Exchange

Surprised by fierce opposition from throughout the country, the New York Stock Exchange said Monday that it will indefinitely delay its plan to start trading half an hour earlier, pending further study. The plan to open daily Big Board trading at 9 a.m. Eastern time was to have gone into effect Sept. 9. The stock exchange said it will delay seeking SEC approval for the earlier opening.

Rafael Castro--son of Priscilla Rivera, aficionado of airplanes and baseball, Rosemead High School Class of 1993--found himself being squired about the New York Stock Exchange on Friday as though he was the chief executive of Exxon. There was lunch in the members dining club (Rafael chose chicken nuggets), a private introduction to the inner workings of the exchange, then a guided tour of the trading floor on the arm of the stock exchange's president.

Entertainment giant Walt Disney Co., whose stock has surged to record levels this year, said Tuesday that its board of directors voted for a 4-for-1 stock split. Chairman Michael Eisner announced the plan at the company's annual meeting, held at Disney World. The news brought cheers from the 4,000 stockholders in attendance. "The price of our shares has recently moved higher after having been well above the $100 figure for most of the past three years," Eisner said.

Maria Bartiromo may be the closest thing here to a combat reporter. Holding her ground on the chaotic floor of the New York Stock Exchange, she dodges round after round of zigzagging traders, while rattling off earnings reports, analyst projections and market updates into a CNBC camera and the offices of moneymakers around the country and the globe. Live on camera, she juggles pages of notes, grabs new numbers from a producer, talks rapidly above the din.

Directors of the New York Stock Exchange named former Citigroup Inc. executive John S. Reed interim chairman and chief executive Sunday, counting on the veteran banker -- and stock exchange outsider -- to steer the Big Board through its troubles until a permanent leader is found. Reed, 64, replaces Richard Grasso, who was forced out of office Wednesday amid outrage over his $139.5-million compensation package.