Google and CNBC will be the first information providers to buy last-trade data from NYSE and offer it free to the public. Real time. Free to the public. Authoritative, from NYSE. All good things. We announced a couple of weeks ago that this was coming “by July 1.” Sooner is better! Been waiting a long time for this announcement, and I’m glad it’s finally here.

The people behind this can speak to it better than I can. Here’s an excerpt from today’s press release:

“NYSE Realtime Stock Prices will provide investors with free, immediate and easily accessible information, without requiring them to complete any administrative forms or contracts. We are excited to partner with Google and CNBC, two great names in the information space, to offer this useful data to the public,” said Ronald Jordan, Executive Vice President, Market Data.

“Providing real-time market data on Google Finance is an important step towards helping investors make more informed and timely investment decisions,” said Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. “Access to real-time financial information has traditionally been limited to investors with brokerage accounts and other users via subscription fees. We are pleased to be making this information freely available to all of our users on Google Finance, Google.com and other Google search properties.”

“This service will enable any CNBC viewer or user the ability to make better investing decisions, no matter what platform they use or where they are in the world,” said Scott Drake, Vice President, CNBC Digital.

The NYSE first proposed the idea for NYSE Realtime Stock Prices in January 2007, with an innovative approach: information providers disseminating the data do not have to count and report the number of users to the Exchange, nor contract with each user. Instead, the providers purchase the data from the NYSE for a flat monthly fee. The Securities and Exchange Commission last week approved NYSE Realtime Stock Prices for a four-month pilot period.

Here’s CNBC’s news release.

This post from The Official Google Blog tells you how to pull up the prices on Google, iGoogle and Google Finance. And here’s a related post on Google Finance .

Not to be a nudge, but just a reminder, the annual reconstitution of major Russell indexes takes place this Friday, 27 June, as mentioned here last week.

Last Friday, Russell revised its list of issues that will be entering or exiting its indexes, and in turn, we’ve updated our roster of affected NYSE-listed issues. We’re now up to 164 NYSE stocks. It’s all covered on our Trader Updates page.

Be prepared, be aware, so you won’t be scared, and remember to share (this information, that is).

Happy Monday, folks. Hey, the people who bring good things to life should blow out a few electric candles for this one:

Today in NYSE History
23 June 1892 — General Electric Company stock began trading on the NYSE.

Today also is a (typewritten) red-letter day in the annals of communication, according to NYTimes.com (and they’re in a position to know this stuff!):

1868 — Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the “Type-Writer.”

One of the greatest inventions of all time. I sincerely thank you, Mr. Sholes.

BNY ConvergEx is growing, and their rising participation on NYSE is a big part of that, according to the press release the firm issued earlier today. According to the release:

BNY ConvergEx Group, LLC, a leading provider of global agency brokerage and investment technology solutions, today announced that it has attained record-breaking equity trading volume growth and market share through May 2008.

The increase in volume occurred across a number of different market centers and other execution venues, and is best demonstrated by the doubling of ConvergEx’s average daily volume at the New York Stock Exchange since the first of the year. ConvergEx also tripled its percentage of NYSE market share during the same time frame, which has led to a significant move up the NYSE’s Broker Volume Top 10 rankings. The NYSE Broker Volume Top 10 provides a way to identify the leaders in equity orderflow and lists the top 10 NYSE member firms by volume.

Carey S. Pack, Chief Executive Officer, BNY ConvergEx Execution Solutions, stated “Clients have become increasingly cognizant of the advantages of our unique agency trading model because it allows us to put their needs first and remain on firm ground no matter the current volatility of the markets. We have integrated advanced trading technology with the knowledge and expertise of our sales traders to create an execution platform that will help clients reach their investment objectives, and it is gratifying to see that message resonating throughout the marketplace.”

“BNY ConvergEx Group’s commitment to customers and to providing best execution of their orders has been a catalyst to the firm’s growing presence in the industry and on the NYSE,” said Larry Leibowitz, Group Executive Vice President and Head of U.S. Execution & Global Technology, NYSE Euronext. “ConvergEx has embraced change and new technology which, coupled with its high-touch, high-tech service model, positions the firm very well in an increasingly competitive marketplace. We value ConvergEx’s increased participation on the NYSE, which adds even more liquidity to the primary market for NYSE-listed issues.”

A look at yesterday’s Broker Volume report indicates that BNY ConvergEx was our fith-largest volume provider, with 3.29 percent of the total, or 170,929,649 shares. We appreciate every single one of ‘em, and will keep working overtime to merit BNY ConvergEx’s business and everyone else’s.

Hope you’re having a good Thursday, folks. Today is the birthday of one of the greatest athletes of all time, the Yankees’ Lou Gehrig (born 1903, taken tragically way too soon in 1941). Happy birthday in selfless-heroes heaven, Mr. Iron Horse.

Here’s a guest post from Daniel Labovitz, vice president, Office of the General Counsel, NYSE Regulation, in response to my comments on Tuesday in this post about slogging through some of the more complex sentences in one of our memos to members::

Speaking as the primary memo-writing colleague on this one, I have to admit that you’re not off the mark in your commentary. But in defense of the long sentence at issue, it’s important to remember that these memos are legal sources upon which regulatory actions may be based. And while ideally we try to avoid getting too technical, and to use colloquial phrases and common-sense descriptions, we sometimes need to be very precise so that we foreclose any meaning but the one we intended. This can sometimes result in long, complex sentences that sound stilted, like the one you cited.

And besides, long and complex aren’t always bad things: When I taught legal writing, I sometimes liked to refer students to John 11:35 (”Jesus wept”, famous as the shortest sentence in the Bible) to show the power of short direct writing. But then I would point out that some of the most powerful creeds in the Western canon are complex sentences with lots of words — things like the Lord’s Prayer (2 sentences of 24 and 46 words, respectively), the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence (1 sentence, 71 words) and the Preamble to the Constitution (1 sentence, 52 words). Then I would suggest to them that they try to write somewhere in the middle.

Thanks, Dan, I learned a lot from that. Never really thought about the dual purpose of those memos. Now I understand the need for such a level of detail. Plus, you offer a peek inside this place that I hope will help readers better understand our process and what we’re about. I thank you for that, and encourage our other colleagues to let me know if and when they’ve got an insight to offer from their respective areas. As a reminder to all, this blog is not mine, it’s everyone’s.

I also loved the writing lesson. You taught legal writing? You also taught good writing. That’s some of the best writing advice I ever heard. Thanks for sharing it.

Even before we get to the Russell Reconstitution on 27 June, we’ve got a quarterly expiration to deal with, this Friday, 20 June. Here’s our memo to members about the expiration.

For you laymen (like me!) out there, this is about the expiration of stock and index options and futures, which occurs near the end of each quarter. These events have been known to increase trading volume as well as, on occasion, price volatility.

This Friday also is the quarterly share rebalancing of the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, S&P SmallCap 600 and S&P REIT Composite Indices. That rebalancing also has been known to increase the share volume in stocks being added to or deleted from the indexes. Indices. Indexes. I can’t make up my mind on that one.

The memo is seven pages long and I was going to run some excerpts, but for much of it, I’m a little out of my limited depth. I mean, the memo contains sentences like this:

In that connection, members and member organizations are reminded that, where a firm has committed to purchase from (sell to) a customer an order at a price that is derived from the closing price (e.g., VWAP and MOC orders) while also reserving a significant position of its hedging or covering transaction to be executed at or near the Close, they must operate with substantial care.

So if those kinds of things figure in your business, please read the memo. With substantiaI care.

I have to apologize to my MWCs (memo-writing colleagues): I picked out the longest sentence I could find, just to make my point. The memo is not as bad as all that. Please forgive me, it’s been a long day, it took me two cups of tea and a Coke to get through it, and I can’t get into parsing through the memo right now. Though I’m sure it’s quite informative and helpful. I mean it. Sincerely.

I’ll quit digging that hole now.

Today in NYSE History
17 June 1971 — Merrill Lynch became the first NYSE member organization to have its stock listed on the exchange.

Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes,
Here comes your 2008 Russell Reconstitution…

OK, the Stones it’s not, but here is our note to members that previews the reconstitution, which takes place on 27 June. The memo includes the names of the 155 NYSE-listed issues that will be added or deleted from Russell Indexes; a rundown on special procedures for Limit on Close and Market on Close orders; and five contingency scenariios. Updated lists will be announced by Rusell on 20 June and 27 June.

If you need more depth on the upcoming event, here is the link to Russell’s “Reconstitution Central” page.

Wanted to post this a bit earlier but ran into some publishing issues. Better late than never, here’s a little historical trivia for today; On This Day (NYTimes.com):

– Ford Motor Co. was incorporated in 1903. Happy birthday, F!

– The three-day Monterey Pop Festival kicked off, which according to the Times “catapulted Jimi Hendrix, the Who and Janis Joplin to stardom.”

– The great Stan Laurel was born on this day in 1890 (died 1965). And today is the 67th birthday of songwriter Lamont Dozier.

Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes, here it comes,
Here comes your 2008 Russell Reconstitution…

OK, the Stones it’s not, but here is our note to members that previews the reconstitution, which takes place on 27 June. The memo includes the names of the 155 NYSE-listed issues that will be added or deleted from Russell Indexes; a rundown on special procedures for Limit on Close and Market on Close orders; and five contingency scenariios. Updated lists will be announced by Rusell on 20 June and 27 June.

If you need more depth on the upcoming event, here is the link to Russell’s “Reconstitution Central” page.

Wanted to post this a bit earlier but ran into some publishing issues. Better late than never, here’s a little historical trivia for today; On This Day (NYTimes.com):

– Ford Motor Co. was incorporated in 1903. Happy birthday, F!

– The three-day Monterey Pop Festival kicked off, which according to the Times “catapulted Jimi Hendrix, the Who and Janis Joplin to stardom.”

– The great Stan Laurel was born on this day in 1890 (died 1965). And today is the 67th birthday of songwriter Lamont Dozier.

I learned something when I got an e-mail last night from the Webby Awards people, announcing the list of Webby recipients (which did NOT, repeat NOT, include your humble blogger, but I’M REALLY OK WITH THAT, REALLY I AM).

The thing I didn’t know is that all the Webby acceptance speeches have to be five words or fewer. I never realized this because I don’t pay a lot of attention to the Webbys. Which appears to be mutual. Your humble blogger still humbly awaits his first nomination. Gonna be a long, long, long wait, I think.

Anyway. All kinds of brilliant, creative, funny people (again, by definition, not me, but I’m OK with it) win Webbys and get to say things like this:

“Me, me, me, me, me.”
- Stephen Colbert (Webby Person of the Year)

“Mr. DJ, can you play another song?”
- David Byrne (Webby Lifetime Achievement)

“Now we know we can.”
- will. i. am (Webby Artist of the Year)

“Five words is not enough.”
- Lorne Michaels (Webby Film & Video Lifetime Achievement)

“Keyboards are full of germs.”
- Michel Gondry (Webby Film & Video Person of the Year)

All of which gave me a chuckle and got me thinking. What if they start a new Webby category that neatly defines my niche, i.e., financial-market blog, large-nosed author? I need to get my five words ready!

If that unlikely day comes to pass, if my years of lonely blogging somehow pay off, if the Webby people someday deign to acknowledge my existence, if they one day bestow that chrome Slinky trophy upon my shaking hands, here is what I would say:

There must be some mistake.

I learned something when I got an e-mail last night from the Webby Awards people, announcing the list of Webby recipients (which did NOT, repeat NOT, include your humble blogger, but I’M REALLY OK WITH THAT, REALLY I AM).

The thing I didn’t know is that all the Webby acceptance speeches have to be five words or fewer. I never realized this because I don’t pay a lot of attention to the Webbys. Which appears to be mutual. Your humble blogger still humbly awaits his first nomination. Gonna be a long, long, long wait, I think.

Anyway. All kinds of brilliant, creative, funny people (again, by definition, not me, but I’m OK with it) win Webbys and get to say things like this:

“Me, me, me, me, me.”
- Stephen Colbert (Webby Person of the Year)

“Mr. DJ, can you play another song?”
- David Byrne (Webby Lifetime Achievement)

“Now we know we can.”
- will. i. am (Webby Artist of the Year)

“Five words is not enough.”
- Lorne Michaels (Webby Film & Video Lifetime Achievement)

“Keyboards are full of germs.”
- Michel Gondry (Webby Film & Video Person of the Year)

All of which gave me a chuckle and got me thinking. What if they start a new Webby category that neatly defines my niche, i.e., financial-market blog, large-nosed author? I need to get my five words ready!

If that unlikely day comes to pass, if my years of lonely blogging somehow pay off, if the Webby people someday deign to acknowledge my existence, if they one day bestow that chrome Slinky trophy upon my shaking hands, here is what I would say:

There must be some mistake.

I know, I know, I’m a bit biased, but I like everything I’ve seen so far in these rule proposals (links to proposals here and here). I’m still on the learning curve on this, but right off the bat, here are some of the changes (most of which are pending SEC approval) that I think are going to be real positives:

1) “The look” goes away. Specialist algorithms will no longer get an exclusive, advance look at incoming orders. In connection with this and other changes in the specialist’s role, going forward we’re calling them designated market makers (DMMs). The role has evolved enough that a name change is justified.

2) Since they no longer have exclusive information, DMMs will be able to trade on parity. They will be no longer have to stand at the back of the line, which gave them no incentive to quote, improve prices and match orders. They will no longer be the agent for the Display Book. So they will be rewarded for quoting, which benefits other traders, the DMMs themselves, and New York Stock Exchange as a whole.

3) DMMs will have the “affirmative obligation” to maintain an orderly market in their stocks, quote at the national best bid or offer for specified percentages of the time, and facilitate price discovery at the open, close and in periods of significant imbalances. They will provide liquidity to the book based on a Capital Commitment Schedule that will be programmed into the Display Book but will receive no order information.

4) Eliminating the look means reducing order latency, because there will be one less stop for every order to make. Less demand on electronic message capacity, too.

5) DMM economic incentives will be transparent and based on performance, and their performance will be reviewed periodically.

6) The old, artificial barriers that no longer make sense in today’s environment are coming down. DMMs will be able to integrate their floor-based trading operations into a related member firm, subject to strict information barriers. This will free up firms to make their talent and technology more mobile and multi-purposed across their upstairs and downstairs operations, and make the floor operations more cost-effective They will also have better access to upstairs capital and will be able to trade derivative securities on other markets for risk-management purposes.

7) Floor brokers will be perfectly positioned to provide their customers with access to the increased value and price discovery resulting from all of the above.

Apart from these particular filings, there are excellent changes happening for the floor brokers, too. They will have access to an NYSE-approved algo provider that will give them the ability to match the speed of upstairs smart routers. They will be able to use those algo’s to peg orders and also execute trading strategies, including VWAP and convert and parity. Brokers also are getting a new service that helps them get blocks done. The new service enables them to electronically broadcast a stock symbol they’re interested in, without giving anything else away; respond to pings from other brokers; and “subscribe” to symbols they want to keep an eye on for interest from others, just like RSS — kind of like adding a new, electronic dimension to the floor conversation, helping them locate block-sized liquidity.

9) Customers will get a new order type: a reserve order that does not require that any portion of the order be displayed. The order will participate in automatic executions but will not be protected in manual executions, will not participate in the open or close, and the DMM will not have access to it. It’s another choice for customers looking for that type of functionality.

10) The changes are starting this August and should take a month or two to implement — again, pending the SEC’s approval.

There’s actually a lot more than 10 things in that list, but I had to group them. Nobody wants to read a top-23 list. Anyway, I hope I have those things correct. Colleagues, please correct me if I misread anything there.

Overall, sounds to me like we’re trying for a better balance between high tech and high touch, and I’m all for that. We adopted Hybrid to comply with Reg. NMS. That’s done. We got to compliance but at a cost of losing too much of our differentiation. Now is the time to move past that and go back to the future, so to speak — reclaim the good things traditionally associated with NYSE: lower volatility, deeper liquidity, vibrant participation by everyone, value added. Speed it all up, and I wouldn’t bet against us. For the first time in a long time, I’m a little stoked. I believe it can be done. Let’s hope we got it right.

To all those who have been reading me patiently since forever, waiting for this news, sticking with us via your orders and your comments, let me say: thank you, sincerely. I hope you can see now, we have been listening. It’s just a lot tougher and slower to make these changes than anyone can imagine. These proposals are 271 and 102 pages, respectively.

Are we there yet? Not yet, kids. Comment period, approvals and implementation ahead. But we’re on our way. May your patience and loyalty be rewarded with a better market — strike that, let’s make it again the world’s greatest market — very soon