Business, Tech Announcements Staggered By Attacks

Business came to a standstill in many sectors today as people were riveted to the news coming out of New York.

The New York Stock Exchange itself was evacuated and trading was cancelled, possibly for the entire day, following the crash of two airplanes into the World Trade Center towers, only blocks away. The Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange also closed trading on their electronic systems, and in Canada, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange was also halted.

It is unknown yet what the economic impact of the terrorist acts will be, but the attacks couldnt have come at a worse time.

The economy is already teetering on the edge of a recession, and the New York tragedy could worsen the economic picture. Stocks were expected to fall when trading does resume on the major exchanges, traders said.

A number of technology-related events and news announcements were being postponed or cancelled Tuesday to give people time to deal with the tragedy. Palm said it was respectfully postponing a news Web cast, and IBM cancelled a storage center grand opening it had planned for Wednesday.

Flights have also been grounded in the U.S. and Canada.