West Coast Firms Say It’s Bull : New York Stock Exchange plans to start a half-hour earlier

There’s revolt spreading in the Wall Street air. Relax--it has nothing to do with the Dow Jones industrial average or the recession. It’s something far more elementary: The New York Stock Exchange plans to extend trading hours. And that’s making many brokers from coast to coast very unhappy, especially in the West. The reason: the exchange wants to start trading half an hour earlier.

The idea is to win back stock trades occurring overseas, mostly in London, when the NYSE is closed. To some that’s sounds reasonable, especially if they live in New York. But Montgomery Securities, a San Francisco-based brokerage, is so upset that it’s fighting the NYSE’s decision. It wants to keep the hours as they are. Small wonder. If the exchange prevails, beginning Sept. 9 the Big Board will start at 9 a.m. Eastern time--or 6 a.m. Pacific time.

The change would be particularly burdensome to brokerage employees. Employees--mostly clerical and support personnel--typically begin working two hours before trading begins--7:30 a.m. in New York; 4:30 a.m. in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Many of them rely on public transportation. Requiring them to report half an hour earlier would force them to use public transit at a time when buses and other vehicles run even less frequently. Then there is the question of personal safety during those desolate hours.

The exchange says it consulted with a wide cross section of its “constituent community.” Maybe it forgot employees. Moreover, opponents of extending the hours insist the extra time will make little difference in trading volume because many investors who buy and sell stock overseas do so for a reason other than time--namely, to avoid U.S. reporting requirements.

Montgomery, the largest institutional broker in the West, says it has gathered the signatures needed to file a petition triggering a special meeting and vote by exchange members. The firm, whose partners hold six seats on the exchange, is asking members to amend the NYSE’s constitution to keep the current opening time at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time. May its campaign prove successful . . . 6:30 a.m. is early enough in these parts.