So will AMEX compete with SuperMontage on Nasdaq NMS or will AMEX quotes be incorporated into SuperMontage so as to reduce fragmentation. Here's the news: Tue Apr 9, 1:54 AM ET Amex's Plan for New Listings Will Tread Upon Nasdaq Turf The American Stock Exchange is planning to begin trading 120 of the top Nasdaq Stock Market-listed companies on its own trading floor, Tuesday's Wall Street Journal reported. Though Amex lists and trades the Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock -- popularly known as the QQQ, after its trading symbol -- this is the first full-scale move by the Amex into Nasdaq listing territory. The Amex is trying to increase revenue at the expense of its corporate sibling. The Amex maneuver marks yet another twist in its increasingly awkward relationship with Nasdaq. Both markets are owned by the National Association of Securities Dealers. Nasdaq has spent the past several years orchestrating a spinoff from the NASD. And as Amex hunts for an exit strategy of its own, the two markets have returned to their former roles as rivals for listing stocks and attracting stock order flow. A Nasdaq spokesman declined to comment on the Amex initiative. Under the Amex move, the stocks to be traded include the components of the Nasdaq 100, as well as 20 other frequently traded issues. Amex hopes to begin the new trading, which makes use of a regulatory option allowing markets to trade securities they don't list, on May 20 . The Amex is attempting to take advantage of a difficult time for Nasdaq traders, many of whom have seen their revenue erode since the implementation last spring of decimalized trading of U.S. stocks. That change diminished the gap between buy and sell orders for a stock at a given time, thus shrinking the pool from which traders capture revenue. Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter Kate Kelly contributed to this report.
I may have been wordy in my two cents, and you may want to ask for change, but that's exactly what I was describing. Unfortunately, the fox has to cheer on the chickens, and heard them into a bunch so that whence he pounces, there's at least one wing amongst them. Simply put, its not geared for the customer, although its marketed and sold, as if it were geared towards the customer's benefit. The SEC and the Senate hearings forced resolution on the Decimalization, and this has been the single greatest thing in favor of the customer base, although its taken many months to get used to it. Brace yourself, the fat lady is warming up the bellows...