The American Stock Exchange Issues Statement Honoring SEC Chairman Levitt

The American Stock Exchange® (Amex®) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Salvatore F. Sodano, issued the following statement yesterday regarding the resignation of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt: "Chairman Levitt has served our nation and investors with great honor and distinction. For his entire career, Chairman Levitt has always been squarely on the side of investor protection and the integrity of our public markets. We wish him well."

The American Stock Exchange®, a subsidiary of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®), is the only primary exchange that offers trading across a full range of equities, Index SharesSM, including structured products and HOLDRSSM, and options. In addition to its role as a national equities market, the Amex is the leader in Index Share listings (DIAMONDS®,FORTUNE 500®Index Tracking Stock, FORTUNE e-50TMIndex Tracking Stock, iSharesSM , MidCap SPDRs™, Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking StockSM, Select Sector SPDRs®, and SPDRs® and streetTRACKSSM) and is the second-largest options exchange in the U.S., trading options on broad-based and sector indexes as well as domestic and foreign stocks. For more information, visit www.amex.com.