Nasdaq
Essay Preview: Nasdaq
Report this essay
The American Stock Exchange!
The American Stock Exchange fosters growth opportunities through its market structure and personalized services, particularly for small and mid-sized companies facing significant challenges in todays increasingly competitive marketplace.
New listings on the Amex outpace the competition. For instance, the Amex was the only major U.S. market with net positive listings over the last three years. During the same time period, the Nasdaqs losses were close to 500 companies
The American Stock Exchange is an auction market, where trading is conducted through a centralized specialist system. At the Amex, the overwhelming majority of public buy and sell orders meet directly, not needing specialist intervention. But when the markets are out of balance, the specialist deploys capital and acts as a buyer or seller to bring the markets back into equilibrium. By centralizing order flow and giving public orders priority, investors trade on a level playing field and achieve the best price available. Trading is more orderly so price volatility is reduced, spreads are narrower, and execution costs are lower. A single specialist firm, chosen by the listed company at time of listing, has an affirmative obligation to make a fair and orderly market in the companys stock. No Nasdaq market maker has such an affirmative obligation. Being able to select a specialist allows the Amex issuer to develop a relationship that can provide its management with valuable insight into the market — a resource that issuers simply cannot get with the fragmented market structure of the Nasdaq. After all, specialists get to know listed companies businesses like no Nasdaq market maker does. Amex specialists also maintain relationships with some of the biggest financial institutions on Wall Street, thus ensuring access to substantial capital to support quality markets. Furthermore, unlike the loyalty displayed by Amex specialists, Nasdaq market makers can choose whether to make a market in any particular stock — meaning that stocks can be dropped at the market makers whim, when markets get challenging.
The Exchanges specialist-based auction market structure creates a quality trading environment that promotes
Liquidity: allows investors to buy and sell quickly, easily, and with minimal price impact, a key to building investor confidence
Narrower