TICKER TALK

The price for a seat on the New York Stock Exchange fell Thursday for the third time in a row--the first time that has happened in seven years--but brokers said the drop was fallout from the NYSE’s recent trading scandal, not an early warning that the stock market is about to dive.

Though the NYSE doesn’t disclose the names of seat sellers, traders said the seats were sold by some of the eight floor brokers charged in February with illegally profiting from information they learned on the floor. The brokers were suspended by the NYSE, and one pleaded guilty on Tuesday.

A seat sold Thursday for $1.35 million, down from the previous sale of $1.4 million on Tuesday. A seat gives the holder the right to trade stocks and vote on exchange issues.

A buyer paid a record $2 million for a seat on March 9. The price then fell to $1.6 million on April 3.

NYSE seat prices typically plunge in times of bear markets. In 1990, for example, when 28 seats were sold, the price fell eight times in a row.