on august 30, 1948, the press reported that several brokers in multiple cities were discussing a large merger of several midwestern stock exchanges. the plan at that point included exchanges in chicago, detroit, cleveland, cincinnati, new orleans, and st. louis. with a projected volume of $350,000,000 a year in trading, it would make the proposed exchange the largest in the united states outside of new york. st. louis stock exchange officers refused to talk to the press about the plan, and the exchange at that point had a normal business annually of $7,000,000. on may 26, the members of the exchange voted twenty-six to eight in favor of the merger. on june 10, 1949, "the new york times" reported that the proposed merger had resulted in disagreement within st. louis financial circles. a key anti-consolidation group was said to include the four companies whose stocks were most active on the local st. louis exchange: wagner electric company, laclede steel company, f. burkart manufacturing company, and griesedieck-western brewery company.