FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                    97-45



        Chairman Arthur Levitt Congratulates the New York
         Stock Exchange on Decision to Recognize the
               Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
                              
     Washington DC, June 5, 1997 --  Today the New York
Stock Exchange announced that its floor will close every
January on the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, which
was made a legal public holiday by Congress in 1983 and was
first celebrated in 1986 by proclamation of President Ronald
Reagan.

     "On behalf of my colleagues on the Securities and
Exchange Commission, I heartily welcome this decision by our
nation's oldest and largest stock market," said SEC Chairman
Arthur Levitt in response to the NYSE's announcement.  "This
is an important gesture of sensitivity on Wall Street, and
another step toward realizing Dr. King's dream `to transform
the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful
symphony of brotherhood.'"

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