On Labor Day, NBR viewers will see the latest incarnation of “How Wall Street Works.” This program -- a primer on the basics of securities and investing -- was first broadcast on Thanksgiving Day of 1990. It has since become NBR’s best-selling home video. To make sure that the information remains timely and accurate, we update the program every few years.

So last month, I flew up to New York with Paul Kangas and Director Kevin Dooley to meet anchor Susie Gharib and videotape the latest edition of “How Wall Street Works.” Rather than settle for a studio, we shot the program literally on location, on the floor of the venerable New York Stock Exchange.

This was the first time since 1990 that I had returned to the NYSE during trading hours. Although the view hadn’t changed much, the noise level certainly was significantly lower than it was 17 years earlier (which was fortuitous for us, since it meant less audio interference with our anchors).

It turns out that signaled one of the major changes in securities trading that’s taken place over the past two decades. Human traders on the NYSE have largely been replaced by computers. In fact, we heard from one specialist that 89% of trades are now being done electronically -- allowing buy and sell orders for stock to be matched in just fractions of a second.

Of course, many other major changes have also taken place in the financial markets during that time period. Among those we note in the new version of “How Wall Street Works:”

• The speeding up of the flow of financial information as a result of the Internet. Now, by going online, anyone has instant access to the latest news, economic and company information -- not just a few well-connected analysts.
• The interconnection of world economies and financial markets. What happens in London, Mumbai or Shanghai has a bigger impact than ever -- and can send shock waves that can quickly be felt by traders everywhere.
• The proliferation of new financial products. Back in 1990, the concept of trading a Stock Index was still relatively new. Now traders can “buy the market” -- or any of thousands of stock sectors -- through devices such as ETFs.

Yes, Wall Street is certainly a dynamic place, and that’s a good thing. Financial markets have to keep up with the times and innovate. One of the interesting parts of our Labor Day program is a chart of the original Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1896. Of the thirty companies that were on the list then, only one is still around today -- General Electric. That should tell you something about why businesses need to constantly work to meet the needs of their customers.

At Nightly Business Report, we take that lesson seriously. That’s why we’ve gone ahead and reworked this “classic” program. So be sure to tune into NBR this Labor Day to watch the new -- and improved -- edition of How Wall Street Works!