Included in the new list will be the top 1000 Nasdaq®-listed securities based on market capitalization and all components of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. The Primex Auction System will also offer trading in three popular Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs): the Nasdaq-100 Trust Series, the SPDR Trust Series, and the Diamonds Trust Series, proxies respectively for the Nasdaq-100 Index®, the S&P 500 Index, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The expanded list will be phased in during the first two weeks of April and will remain in place through June 30, 2002, when Nasdaq intends to expand trading again. Currently, the Primex Auction System offers trading in all components of the Nasdaq-100, the S&P 100 and the DJIA. Trading in the system consistently exceeds more than 5 million shares daily.
"As Nasdaq adds additional securities, more broker/dealers will be able to experience the benefits of the system's exposure process, which creates opportunities for increased participant interaction and for better prices," said Dean Furbush, Executive Vice President, Nasdaq Transaction Services.
On the first trading day in April, Nasdaq will make available all securities included in the S&P 500. Two weeks later, on April 15, trading will expand to the top 1000 Nasdaq-listed securities based on market capitalization and the three ETFs. The expanded Nasdaq list includes roughly all securities with a market capitalization of more than $300 million.
The Primex Auction System provides an easy way for Nasdaq market participants to access liquidity that, until now, has never been exposed to the marketplace. There are two sides to the Primex Auction. On one side are order entrants, including Market Makers, who briefly expose their orders in the system. On the other side, a crowd of electronically linked participants competes for these orders at prices at, and within, the prevailing national best bid and offer (NBBO).
In order to speed the auction process, participants in the crowd typically predefine their responses using the system's unique Predefined Relative Indication (PRI) tool. These responses reside in the system undisclosed. As orders are exposed in the system, PRIs immediately and automatically respond to them, enabling instantaneous executions with opportunities for price improvement.
Market Makers who enter their customer orders in the system may commit capital to those orders in conjunction with the auction process. The system's exposure mechanism validates customers' execution prices and enhances execution quality without sacrificing speed.
So far, more than 60 broker/dealers have registered as Primex Auction System participants.
About Primex Trading N.A., LLC
The Primex Auction is the creation of Primex Trading N.A., LLC, a partnership formed by leading securities industry brokerage firms and investment banks, including Salomon Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. New York-based Primex Trading N.A., LLC conceives, designs, and licenses trading solutions for the securities industry. For more information go to www.primextrading.com, or contact Glen Shipway at glen.shipway@primextrading.com.
About Nasdaq
Nasdaq is the world's largest stock market. With more than 4,000 companies, Nasdaq lists more companies and trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. Over the past five years, Nasdaq has outpaced all other U.S. markets in listing IPOs. It is also home to category defining companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, transportation, media and healthcare industries. With operations on three continents, Nasdaq is a key driver of global capital formation. For more information about Nasdaq, visit the Nasdaq Web site at www.nasdaq.com or the Nasdaq NewsroomSM at www.nasdaqnews.com.
