In This Market, Maybe Hard Hats Would Be the Appropriate Attire
With stock market confidence already shattered, some floor traders at the New York Stock Exchange are taking drastic measures to ward off further bad luck this Friday the 13th.</br></br>They are wearing hats.</br></br>Today is "Hat Day" on the exchange, and word has gone out that members must cover their pates -- or be prepared to suffer the consequences.</br></br>According to Arthur Cashin, a floor broker for PaineWebber Inc., the logic couldn't be simpler: As everybody knows, it's bad luck to wear a hat indoors; but since today is Friday the 13th, the reverse should hold true. So wear a Stetson, fedora, Yankees cap or bowler. Then, stand back and watch the bull market roar.</br></br>Maybe that'll happen, maybe not. On the most recent previous Hat Day -- it came on Nov. 13, 1987 -- traders showed up sporting everything from football helmets to women's straw hats, the price tags still attached. And with the October crash fresh in their minds, a surprising number of them kept their hats on throughout the day, hoping for one good session in an otherwise unnerving season.