Sweeping Changes at the NYSE

Today's NYSE ArcaNews entry is short and sweet. The often cited WSJ reporter, Aaron Lucchetti, scribed a very interesting article in today's Journal. To be sure, NYSE ArcaNews has covered Mr. Lucchetti's coverage through the years, and today's article finally reveals some factual information that's worth digesting. For obvious copyright reasons, the article won't be posted here, but the headline reads, "NYSE: Faster (and lonelier)." Here is a round-up of some interesting facts contained in this article:

This snippet illuminates what's so monumental about the NYSE/AX Merger and the efficiencies that AX brings to the NYSE:
* ". . .for the employees who work on the NYSE's iconic trading floor it means fewer jobs and the biggest change to the way the Big Board has traded stocks in its 214-year history."

This blurb helps to explain why in the world NYX was booed on the Floor on the day of its IPO:

* ". . .It's been a very painful" few months, says Michael Rutigliano, a longtime NYSE floor broker. "I understand why it's happening, but it's not pleasant when people you have admiration for are losing their jobs." Last week, traders gave departing colleagues standing ovations on about a dozen occasions when the laid-off employees left the floor for the last time."

This part of the article illuminates how innovative and solid technology can enhance business processes:

* ". . .Now, specialists, instead of overseeing trades in a handful of stocks, supervise computer programs that spit out thousands of trades a minute. One sign of the change: Specialist clerks that collectively banged their keyboards 45 million times a day have cut that to fewer than 20 million keystrokes."

And this video is outstanding! It's a 4-minute interview by Lucchetti with Richard Barry, a LaBranche & Co. specialist. One takeaway from this conversation is Barry's statement that one of the biggest changes with Hybrid is that before turnaround time for an average order was between 8-9 seconds. He goes on to say that now the turnaround time is now 200 miliseconds.

It's refreshing to see factual information being published. These changes are indeed monumental and revolutionary. This is perhaps the most exciting time in the evolution of the global bourse world -- and NYX is certainly the lead engine.