Archipelago Exchange<SUP>sm</SUP> (ArcaEx®) Achieves New Listed Volume Record And Total Exchange Volume Record Reflecting Momentum In Both OTC And Listed Stocks

The Archipelago Exchangesm (ArcaEx) announced a new total volume record trading over 800 million shares on January 29. This included a new record of approximately 125 million listed shares traded fueled by the addition of two of the most actively traded ETFs to ArcaEx's faster and more efficient - listed trading system run on its Sun Microsystems based platform. Eight of ArcaEx's overall top ten share volume days have occurred in January 2004.

"We believe these milestones demonstrate the trading community's embrace of the inherent values of ArcaEx - execution quality, speed, and cost - and the innovations and efficiencies our system bring to the market place," said Archipelago CEO Jerry Putnam.

"We recognize the value that traders place on speed in the competitive listed trading arena and have responded by improving our execution speeds tenfold today in QQQTM," Putnam added.

ArcaEx's electronic system enables buyers and sellers to anonymously place orders and execute trades consistently, quickly and cost effectively. With a wide range of order types to choose from and connectivity to all U.S. equity markets, ArcaEx is designed to provide all investors with the most efficient order processing available.