Honda's robot opens NYSE trading on Valentines Day
Thursday February 14, 10:16 AM EST
©2001 Reuters Limited.
NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - He's not quite a love machine, but on Valentine's Day the first non-human to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange put as much heart into it as he could.
The four-foot high humanoid named Asimo -- a creature of the Honda Motor Co. Ltd (7267) (HMC) -- clapped, then pressed a white hand hard onto a button, ringing the NYSE's famed opening bell. He was flanked by the warm-blooded chairman of the New York Stock Exchange Richard Grasso and Honda President and chief executive Hiroyuki Yoshino.
Asimo's appearance, his first in the United States, also marked Honda's 25-year anniversary as a Big Board stock.
Traders, accustomed to the parade of bell-ringing dignitaries and famous people, briefly glanced at the balcony above the floor before turning back to their flat-panel displays and order slips. Asimo, its seems, despite his unique place in NYSE history, was not wildly distracting to the frenzied mass.
Asimo, whose name is an acronym for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility. It also is word-play in Japanese. The names means "legs only."