Back to work

Their lives were shattered last Tuesday, but traders are set on getting the economy moving again.

"I'm not a doctor and I'm not a fireman but my patriotic duty is also to go back to work and try to get this economy going again," said Karl Ortiz, who works on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Mr Ortiz is among many hundreds of New Yorkers whose working life was shattered by Tuesday's terrorist attack, but he, like the others, is determined life must go on as normal. The news from the exchange that equities would begin trading again on Monday has been greeted by many with a sense of relief, so they can finally return to a semblance of routine.

Traders, investment bankers and support staff seem to have a steely resolve to get back to work. Gradually, police handling the immediate vicinity of the disaster area have been opening streets closer and closer to Wall Street. As that process unfolds, companies are returning to offices that are suffering serious damage to infrastructure. As a result, the employees are using this weekend to clean up and prepare for the following day.

Richard Grasso, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, said telephone and electricity services may still be disrupted, that transportation could be difficult and that even accommodating the Nasdaq, whose operations have moved to other buildings, might prove a problem.