Brokerage

Moving analysts to the trading desk has proved beneficial at Merrill Lynch.

Moving analysts to the trading desk has proved beneficial at Merrill Lynch.

Market making firms and their advocates are attacking another proposal by the NASD to make it easier for ECNs to charge access fees in the OTC Bulletin Board market.

Market makers will have to think twice about putting on some short positions in the wake of a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to abolish a loophole in its Regulation SHO.

Twelve of the largest trading houses have banded together to launch an electronic crossing venture. Will their clout make it the dominant system on the Street?

The decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission last month to exempt two more types of transactions from Regulation NMS' Order Protection Rule. (See Rules & Regs section for details) brings to 13 the number of the rule's exceptions and exemptions. That's nine exceptions and four exemptions. Some are arcane. Some are likely to be used frequently.

Self-clearing will provide lower trading costs for a big publicly traded agency broker and boost its bottom line. This is what officials of Investment Technology Group (ITG) said as the firm recently implemented a program of self-clearing. ITG will no longer use Jefferies & Co.'s clearing platform.

Trading in New York Stock Exchange-listed securities is going electronic. Liquidity in Nasdaq and Big Board names is splintering. Message rates for market data are accelerating. All this has created fertile ground for developers and promoters of algorithms. Now, as these products become smarter and better at grabbing liquidity, traders are customizing and adapting algos to trade more like themselves.

Pulse Trading, a small agency brokerage based in Boston, launched a new crossing network late last month. The system, called BlockCross, is designed for large orders and began with 40 buyside accounts.

NYSE Euronext, in a move that could impact Nasdaq and other exchanges, has thrown a ringer into the business of facilitating broker-dealer prints.

Liquidnet, in a move that brings it up to speed with crosstown rival Investment Technology Group, is adding portfolio trading functionality to its platform.