NYSE trading floor vet on why hes much more productive and profitable working at home – Yahoo Money

The once-bustling New York Stock Exchange trading floor could become a thing of the past once New York Citys coronavirus lockdown ends, one Wall Street veteran said on Tuesday.

After the COVID-19 crisis forced the Big Apple to adopt strict stay-at-home orders, the NYSE went fully electronic, with many traders and staff working remotely. With New York City still experiencing high infection rates, theres no telling when things will get back to normal.

And Alan Valdes, senior partner at Silverbear Capital, believes the longer the iconic floor stays closed, the less people it may need when it re-opens.

Im busier now because I dont have any clerks to help me, Valdes told Yahoo Finance in an interview, explaining how hes more productive working at home.

Im busier now doing our trades electronically than when we were on the floor, and ... were making more of a profit, Valdes said adding hes now used to working from home.

I actually like it. Ive got all my screens up here, he said. So its working, and its working very well.

The NYSEs floor has been closed for over a month now, having moved to fully electronic trading for the first time in history on March 23rd (the day the markets sank to their 52-week lows.)

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 crisis is hastening a shift thats been underway for years: Automation has already transformed the Big Boards iconic trading floor from its heyday, whittling down the number of active brokers on the exchange.

Still, Wall Streets most photographed broker recently announced he beat the coronavirus and is ready to go back. While NYSEs president has insisted the floor will reopen although no date has been announced yet Valdes has his doubts.

The problem for the exchange is there's no social distancing on the floors, the trader told Yahoo Finance. Even though the floor has less traders than it did years ago, the booth layouts create a close working environment thats ill-suited for the post-coronavirus normal.

People are next to each other six feet? They're six inches away from each other, he argued. I think that's going to be a problem reopening.

Valdes also believes traders may think twice before going back.

Myself, Im saying, I dont know if its worth coming down, he said. Until they come up with a vaccine I dont know how they can really open.

[Read More: Stock market news live updates: Stocks rise, with some states' reopenings under way]

Ines covers the U.S. stock market from the floor of the New York Exchange. Follow her on Twitter at@ines_ferre

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NYSE trading floor vet on why hes much more productive and profitable working at home - Yahoo Money