Arthur D. Cashin, Jr.

Arthur D. Cashin Jr. was a fixture on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for more than sixty years. The Washington Post called him "Wall Street's version of Walter Cronkite," and to colleagues, he was the NYSE's unofficial historian and, as many described him, its "North star" — the calm in the storm when markets roiled and panic set in.

Born in 1941 in Jersey City, New Jersey, Cashin attended Xavier High School in Manhattan on a full scholarship. Arthur's path to Wall Street began with sacrifice. After his father died unexpectedly, family circumstances forced him to end his formal education and turn down a college scholarship so he could go to work and help his family make ends meet. Still a teenager, he joined Thomson & McKinnon as an assistant clerk on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Just five years later, at age 23, he became a partner at P.R. Herzig & Co. and one of the youngest traders ever to purchase a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1980, Cashin joined PaineWebber to manage its floor operations. When UBS acquired PaineWebber in 2000, he continued as Director of Floor Operations for UBS at the NYSE — a role he held for over two decades. He served as a governor of the Exchange, sat on the Market Performance Committee, and, by colleagues' accounts, served on virtually every committee at the Exchange.

Beyond the trading floor, Cashin was widely known for his daily newsletter, Cashin's Comments, which he produced for decades and which reached more than 100,000 readers each day at its peak. Each edition began with a significant historical event associated with that date, then connected it to current market conditions — a signature blend of history, storytelling, and market insight.

He was also a familiar face on CNBC for more than 25 years, appearing several times each week on the segment "Art Cashin on the Markets." Through these outlets, Cashin became a household name for investors across the country, known for his astute market insights, good humor, and wit. As CNBC's Bob Pisani described it, an evening with Cashin was like "an evening in Mad Men in 1962."

I can't fully grasp why people are so interested in me. — Art Cashin, in a 2019 profile

On the trading floor, he was known for leading the singing of "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" every Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve — a tradition that brought the floor community together year after year. He ran the Buttonwood Club, the exclusive NYSE society for members of 25 years or more, and the "Friends of Fermentation," an informal gathering of colleagues who met daily after the market closed.

He was a member of Mensa, The Bond Club of New York, and The Knights of Malta. He never used a computer, writing his daily comments by hand and dictating them to his assistant. He never owned a credit card, paying for everything — including extensive bar tabs — in cash. When asked why, he explained: "If you have a credit card, people know how much you're spending and they know what you're drinking."