Wall Street: Tamer than the Image

In recent years, the American Stock Exchange has more than lived down its old scandal-tinted image, but Wall Street conservatives still regard the Amex as a place where speculators seek action in risky, low-priced shares. Last week, in the first study ever made of investors who actually buy and sell there, the American Exchange looked like quite a tame market place. Based on a survey of 8,000 stock trading deals last May 25—a relatively quiet day in the market—the A.S.E. reported that: > Institutions such as banks, insurance companies and pension funds—whose securities business has been heavily concentrated...