Jackson Jeered as He Rings Bell to Start Stock Exchange Trading

NEW YORK — Jesse Jackson opened today’s New York Stock Exchange trading session with the traditional ringing of the bell but was booed by hundreds of workers on the trading floor below.

Jackson had a ready explanation for the chilly reception--he said he was a few seconds late on the ringer.

But several floor traders said they were taken aback by the apparently spontaneous hostility, noting that VIP visitors usually are ignored or given polite applause.

“I was shocked,” Scott Olsen said after Jackson left. “I’ve never heard anything like that before.”

Jackson rang the bell to signal the start of trading at 9:30 a.m. After the bell rang, apparently not promptly enough, a handful of cheers by traders was nearly drowned out in a chorus of boos.

The civil rights leader and former Democratic presidential aspirant, apparently unruffled by the unexpected greeting, responded by smiling, raising his hands over his head and applauding.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Jackson said he had been told it was traditional to boo anyone who started the trading day late. Anyway, he said, “Cheers and jeers are part of Americana.”