Long before the One World Trade Center dominated Manhattan, an American beaked or button tree on Wall Street was the tallest thing in the area and the mall. 225 years ago, on May 17, 1792, 24 stockbrokers and traders signed under this tree the Buttonwood Agreement, which set the parameters of trading in the first incarnation of the New York Stock Exchange. The agreement has created confidence in the system in which brokers and traders act only among themselves while representing the interests of the public. By closing the system, participants would be confident that they can trust each other and that payments are rewarded and investments are legitimate. In short, the agreement contained two provisions: 1) Brokers should only act among themselves and thus eliminate auctioneers, and 2) commissions should be 0.25%. .