Art Cashin, Wall Street veteran and CNBC regular, dies at age 83

By Manya Saini and Suzanne McGee

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Art Cashin, a renowned market pundit and the UBS director of floor operations at the New York Stock Exchange, has died at the age of 83, UBS said.

Cashin, once dubbed "Wall Street's version of Walter Cronkite" by The Washington Post, was a regular on CNBC, delivering stock market commentary and analysis to the business news channel's viewers for more than 25 years. His Wall Street career spanned more than six decades.

"It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of the passing of Arthur Cashin, Jr., a true giant in our industry," Bill Carroll, head of sales and development at UBS Wealth Management USA, said in a memo sent to employees on Monday.

The memo did not say when he had died or give details about the circumstances.

In addition to his role at UBS, Cashin was renowned for his daily newsletter, Cashin's Comments, which was published for over 25 years with a daily circulation of more than 100,000 readers. He was also a regular on CNBC's "Art Cashin on the Markets," a segment airing several times a week over more than two decades.

"It's fair to say that over this time, Art Cashin became a household name for investors across the country, who benefited from his savvy insight on the markets, good humor and wit," the memo said.

Arthur D. Cashin was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1941, according to CNBC. He began his business career at Thomson McKinnon in 1959 and in 1964, at age 23, he became a member of the NYSE and a partner of P.R. Herzig & Co.

In 1980, Cashin joined investment bank PaineWebber and managed their floor operation. PaineWebber was acquired by UBS in 2000. At that time, the NYSE floor was the hub for the vast majority of trading activity in the United States.

His newsletter, which combined market analysis with trivia, historical tidbits and even recipes, often generated a buzz in Wall Street's trading rooms and on the NYSE floor.

"The day Cashin's Commentary was released was always a landmark on the Street," said Art Hogan, market strategist at Baird Wealth Management, who got to know Cashin during the several decades they worked on Wall Street together.

One recipe regularly featured was for "White Castle burger stuffing", which he usually sent ahead of Thanksgiving, Hogan recalled. Its ingredients? The bun and patty from a hamburger bought from budget restaurant chain White Castle.

Cashin was also a regular at Bobby Van's Steakhouse in Manhattan, where for decades he and a group of friends would gather to tell stories and discuss markets. His usual drink was a Dewar's on ice, and the restaurant would have his first ready for him within five minutes of the closing bell ringing.

"Every time I'd be in New York, I'd be sure to be at Bobby Van's right when the markets closed," said Julie Werner, an individual investor in the Atlanta area, who first met Cashin back in the mid-1990s when she was taking classes at the NYSE. "They'd have his drink ready and waiting for him at his own seat."

Cashin was one of three senior executive floor governors and also served as a member of the Bond Club of New York.

He also chaired the NYSE Fallen Heroes Fund, which assists families of first responders killed in the line of duty.

CNBC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Cashin's family could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru and Suzanne McGee in New York; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili, Krishna Chandra Eluri and Rosalba O'Brien)