National Stock Exchange(SM) Year-To-Date Trades And Share Volume Surpass Full Calendar Year 2003 Record Totals: July 2004 Trades Set New Monthly Record

National Stock Exchange (NSX(SM)) today announced that both trades and share volume for the first seven months of 2004 exceeded the record annual trades and share volume levels for calendar year 2003. Year-to-date trades through July 2004 reached 162.8 million, compared with a record 145.6 million for the full calendar year 2003. Share volume of 72.3 billion surpassed the 2003 record annual total of 68.9 billion shares.

The number of trades in July 2004 set a new monthly record of 27.5 million, up from the previous monthly trade record of 26.7 million set in March 2004 and up 143 percent from 11.3 million trades in July 2003. Share volume of 11.2 billion in July 2004 rose 111 percent from 5.3 billion in July 2003.

The third largest stock market in the United States, NSX in July 2004 captured a 31 percent market share of trades in Nasdaq-listed stocks, and a 17 percent market share of trades in Amex-listed stocks.

National Stock Exchange, the nation's first all-electronic stock exchange, is the low-cost provider of exchange services and a recognized alternative to the primary markets. Having replaced its physical trading floor with a completely automated market in 1980, NSX has been a model of exchange efficiency and a driving force for change in the world of securities exchanges. Founded in 1885, the Exchange changed its name on November 7, 2003 to the National Stock Exchange from the Cincinnati Stock Exchange.