The 140-Year-Old Holiday Tradition On The NYSE Floor You Probably Don't Know

According to the Wall Street Journal, every Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, traders take a moment out of their schedule to gather and sing "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie." The celebration dates back to the late 1800s, but the celebratory mood was scaled back after the 1929 crash. "Wait till the sun shines, Nellie And the clouds go a-drifting by We will be happy, Nellie Don't you cry Art Cashin, a more than 50-year veteran on the New York Stock Exchange led this year's singing, which was broadcast live on CNBC. Image Credit: By Harry Von Tilzer & Andrew B. Sterling - 1905 sheet music published by Von Tilzer Music Publishing, New York, via [1], Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

The tune went on to become a call of hope during the 1940s when the United States was at war while simultaneously trying to recover from the Great Depression.

The lyrics are as follows:

"Down Lover's Lane we'll wander, Sweethearts you and I Wait till the sun shines, Nellie By and by."

CNBC's Bob Pisani noted that the song refers to the sun shining and the clouds parting — a potential foreshadowing of what can be expected in the U.S. economy next year.

"I think that's what the markets been looking for and that's why we have had this post-election rally that's taken us so far," Cashin said immediately after leading a small group of traders in singing the tune. "Tax reform and regulatory reform — the sun is going to be shining."