NYSE agrees to buy rival exchange

NEW YORK -- The New York Stock Exchange on Thursday agreed to buy the American Stock Exchange, ending a once intense rivalry that began in colonial times when brokers traded in outdoor markets. Both exchanges have battled for corporate listings and bragging rights since the early 1900s, with their trading floors just a short walk away from each other in Lower Manhattan. Newspapers around the country all listed the stock swings on the nation's two dominant markets until investors began paying more attention in the 1990s to technology issues on the upstart Nasdaq Stock Market.