From the Exchanges
By Journal of Indexes Staff

It's official: the listing for the Nasdaq 100 Tracking Stock (QQQ) will move from the American Stock Exchange to NASDAQ on December 1st.  The transfer, first rumored in the New York Post two months ago, comes six months before an announced deadline of June 2005.   

"This is a homecoming of sorts for QQQ," said John Jacobs, CEO of NASDAQ Financial Products Services. 

Jacobs said that NASDAQ's electronic trading platform could reduce trading spreads and save money for the QQQ's one-million-plus shareholders.

Losing the listing is more a matter of prestige than profits for AMEX, as much of the trading has already moved to electronic communications networks (ECNs) such as Archipelago and Island. In fact, many people believe that it is the ECNs that will feel a pinch from the move to Nasdaq's electronic network. According to a recent research report from Sandler O'Neil, Archipelago's market data revenue from QQQ trading could drop by as much as 90% when the listing moves to Nasdaq's electronic platform. 

Beginning December 1, the most widely traded ETF in the world will trade under the ticker symbol QQQQ.

Nasdaq Suit Dealt A Blow

Nasdaq suffered a setback in its efforts to crack down on what it sees as unlicensed trading of the QQQs when a federal judge dismissed a Nasdaq lawsuit aimed at blocking Archipelago from trading the QQQs "without a license."

The judge did allow one part of the lawsuit to continue, however, concerning Archipelago's QQQ advertising campaign, which Nasdaq has challenged on trademark grounds. Archipelago promotes their QQQ marketplace under the slogan, "We've Got QQQ Out the Wazoo." The court called the claim "weak."

Amex Looks To Europe

  The American Stock Exchange, seeking to build a European presence, appointed Robert Wotczak as managing director of European equities and hired European-based Capital Market Communications and advisory firm K Capital Source. "Our objective is to position the Amex as the exchange of choice for small-to middle-market-capitalization companies to access North American capital markets," says John McGonegal, Amex senior vice president of equities.

NQLX will close it doors and transfer its remaining business in single stock futures on 56 stocks to OneChicago in mid-December. A London-based futures market owns NQLX, while OneChicago is a joint venture of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. NQLX will retain its legal status, suggesting that it could eventually reopen with new products.

Stockholm-based OM HEX AB recently changed its name to OMX AB, to consolidate and simplify its branding. OMX's exchanges operate the Nordic and Baltic stock markets, including the Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn stock exchanges, as well as central securities depositories in Finland, Latvia and Estonia.

As a result, the OMX index name will be changed to OMXS30, and the Hex25 index will become OMXH25 in November. OMX's URL is now www.omxgroup.com .