This was just announced at the SIFMA annual tech conference:

NYSE Technologies, the innovative commercial technology unit of NYSE Euronext, today announced the launch of its next generation market data infrastructure, NYSE Technologies’ Market Data Platform V5. This revolutionary ticker plant technology is designed specifically for high-volume and latency sensitive markets, delivering data in microseconds rather than milliseconds. It offers 10 times the overall performance of previous generation market data platforms while allowing customers to reduce their hardware footprint by as much as 80%.[1]

The accelerated Market Data Platform V5 has been carefully engineered to deliver extremely high throughput and low latency market data delivery, providing significant value for co-location solutions, high frequency trading and enterprise ticker plant deployments. It is built on NYSE Technologies’ Data Fabric middleware, a proven technology that drives the most advanced ultra-low latency infrastructure in the marketplace.

“NYSE Technologies’ Market Data Platform V5 is game-changing. It represents a quantum leap forward in nearly every aspect of market data distribution,” said Stanley Young, CEO, NYSE Technologies and co-global CIO, NYSE Euronext. “Through this accelerated new system we offer microsecond message processing at peak rates and single-server application, enabling our clients to benefit from a significant reduction in hardware investment and operation costs. When multiplied across high-availability and disaster recovery sites, the cost savings can be exponential. We are very excited to demonstrate the astonishing potential of this integrated platform to our customers, particularly in tandem with the complete NYSE Technologies market data product suite.”

NYSE Technologies’ performance benchmarks, certified by Intel Fastlab, confirm that Market Data Platform V5 offers continuous throughput of 500,000 messages per second on a single CPU core, with a mean latency of less than 40 microseconds over Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) and an ultra-low latency range of 10-20 microseconds over Local Direct Memory Access (LDMA) – ideal for co-location servers.

Stephen S. Pawlowski, Intel Senior Fellow, Digital Enterprise Group Chief Technology Officer, Digital Enterprise Group and General Manager, Architecture and Planning said, “NYSE Technologies’ Market Data Platform V5 with Data Fabric takes advantage of Intel Xeon processor 5500 series-based servers with Intel Quick Path Interconnect. The scalability and low latency of Market Data Platform V5 combined with the performance of the Intel Xeon processor further increases its capabilities as a market data platform. Together, Market Data Platform V5 dramatically reduces the server footprint in the data center to create a cost effective solution on industry standard hardware.”

NYSE Technologies’ Market Data Platform V5 supports a wide range of integration options, (including LDMA, RDMA, TCP ) and is vendor neutral allowing deployment on any hardware platform that supports Linux. This flexibility ensures that this accelerated platform can be incorporated easily into virtually any environment. It can run on existing or new hardware and it can interoperate with legacy infrastructure. Market Data Platform V5 is designed to scale with ease from a single server installation, where the feed handlers, Market Access Gateways (MAGs) and client applications run on the same machine, up to larger distributed enterprise ticker plants with sophisticated message distribution requirements.

Designed to have the lowest total cost of ownership possible, Market Data Platform V5 combines cost effectiveness with the unparalleled speed and processing power that has made NYSE Technologies the market data technology vendor of choice for the top 10 global financial institutions. The platform supports all high-volume US markets and is currently being rolled out to other latency-sensitive markets in the US and Europe

Market Data Platform V5 is cross-compatible with NYSE Technologies’ market-leading Feed Handler Suite which offers more than 160 feed handlers for extensive global market coverage. Firms interested in reducing the hardware footprint of this global ticker plant solution can pair the platform with the Data Fabric middleware.

For more information on NYSE Technologies’ Market Data Platform V5, please visit: www.nyse.com/marketdataplatformV5

[1] Hardware utilization measurement based upon independent tests. Results may vary. NYSE Technologies does not guarantee any savings or level of performance.

Happy Wednesday, folks. As we continue approaching Friday’s Russell indices reconstitution, here’s your daily dose of Great Russells in World History, suggested by my former colleague and music aficionado and erstwhile guitar student, Joyce Goldzman: Leon Russell.

Leon is the under-appreciated songwriter and musician who had a hand in “River Deep, Mountain High” by Ike and Tina Turner, “A Taste of Honey” by Herb Alpert, “This Diamond Ring” by Gary Lewis and the Playboys, “Mr. Tambourine Man” by the Byrds and Joe Cocker’s cover of “The Letter.” He also played with, among many others, Sinatra, Dylan, the Stones, and very memorably in the Concert for Bangladesh. He also had a hit with his “Tight Rope” and wrote the gorgeous “A Song for You.” Worth checking out if you don’t know him, and worthy of his place among the esteemed Great Russells in World History. Thanks for the nomination, Joyce.

And who will tomorrow’s Great Russell be? Nominations are still open, in the comment box below.

From Todd Wilemon: The times are a ‘changing.

At NYSE Euronext, we are looking to save you money. The two options exchanges you love to trade on because of speed and reliability are about to become the low-cost / no-cost places to trade.

I think you should be sitting down for the next announcement.

As of July 1, 2009, NYSE Options will no longer charge a facilitation fee to firms who facilitate their customer order flow. We are eliminating the fee for firm facilitation of customer orders. It’s going to zero. Yes, the price is FREE on both exchanges! (The firm facilitation fee applies to any transaction involving a firm’s proprietary trading account that has a customer of that same firm on the contra side of the transaction.)

“We are proud to offer our customers the most competitively priced exchanges to trade on,” said Ed Boyle, Senior Vice President, U.S. Options, NYSE Euronext. “Our commitment to providing exceptional market quality coupled with industry-leading speed and reliability is now further strengthened by having the lowest transaction fees for firm facilitation. We look forward to continue to offer our customers an exceptional options trading experience.”

We are extremely excited to present our customers with the lowest facilitation rates in the industry. We know you have a choice where you trade and we want that choice to be NYSE Euronext!

The good news is that it does not end just with the firm facilitation fee. NYSE Options is also cutting the manual broker dealer/firm transaction fee from $0.26 to $0.25 on both NYSE Arca and NYSE Amex. Remember, every penny counts!

If you are still standing up, now it’s really time to take your seat, because on NYSE Amex, the electronic broker dealer/firm transaction fee has also been reduced from $0.50 to $0.15, which represents (for those of us who do not have a calculator handy) a 70% fee reduction Talk about Christmas in July!

These pricing changes offer our clients extremely competitive rates for both electronic and open outcry transactions.

Both NYSE Arca and NYSE Amex options markets run hybrid systems, incorporating state-of-the-art, open-outcry trading facilities with an electronic trading platform capable of processing 250,000 orders per second with 2-millisecond order acknowledgment times.

NYSE Amex, our options exchange in New York, is a traditional, market maker pro-rata distribution exchange where customers always trade for free. In San Francisco, NYSE Arca is a maker/taker, price/time priority options exchange where people who post liquidity to the market get paid. And both exchanges will now give firms the ability to facilitate customer orders for free. No free lunch? Not anymore!

Whew! I need to sit down myself! That is enough good news for today.

Trade ‘em up!

TW

If you’re in the trading business, particularly on the futures side, you know the name John Lothian, editor and publisher of the eponymous newsletter. I don’t know of an industry authority who is more trusted or on top of things in the markets, not to mention in the lead on developing wikis, blogs, and other ways to generate conversation and understanding about the business.

As an aside, John was also the first to publish something about this blog, an acknowledgment that brought a lot of readers, for which I’ll always be grateful.

Today I’m happy to return that favor, though my endorsement hardly carries the weight of a Lothian mention. John recently launched the John Lothian Newsletter Metals Edition. NYSE Liffe U.S. is proud to be the exclusive sponsor.

The JLN Metals Edition is a free, daily online newsletter providing market participants with aggregated news and commentary about the metals markets. The newsletter focuses on activities in the futures markets, the physical trade and the companies that participate in either or both. The JLN Metals Edition also monitors news reporting on the metals markets, commenting on quality and scope of coverage.

John says: “Back before there was blogging, wikis, Web 2.0 and a slew of bankrupt newspapers, we tried something new to deliver news, information and informed commentary to traders, investors and other people with interests in the markets. Our goal was to help grow understanding of the markets and allow people to manage their non-price related risks better. With the launch of JLN Metals Edition, we are bringing to bear the full weight of the experience, tools and skills we have acquired to news coverage of the global metals markets. We are pleased to have NYSE Liffe U.S. support this effort.”

Chris McMahon, formerly of Futures Magazine and current adjunct instructor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, edits the newsletter, gathering news and providing commentary.

Me, I enjoy scanning it to take a quick pulse of what’s going on, and to pick up links to news and commentary that I would otherwise miss. There’s also a Twitter feed, a blog and an RSS feed.

And it’s FREE, for crying out loud.

To sign up, visit http://metals.johnlothiannewsletter.com or email ryanlothian@johnlothian.com. Enjoy.

Happy Tuesday, my friends. Reminder: the annual Russell Indices reconstitution is but three days away. Know your procedures, know your participating stocks, know your customer, know…that I got a little carried away there.

In connection with the countdown to Friday, today’s nomination for “Great Russells in World History” is a double, from my colleague Karen Lorentz:

Think basketball, Ray. Bill or Cazzie - or both.

Thanks, Karen. Here’s something about Bill Russell, as well as Cazzie Russell. They were both something to see in their day.

Nominations for the next Great Russell in World History remain open in the comment box below, but get ‘em in soon, before we run out of days in the rest of the week. And I already have a very special one planned for Friday.

If you’re in the trading business, particularly on the futures side, you know the name John Lothian, editor and publisher of the eponymous newsletter. I don’t know of an industry authority who is more trusted or on top of things in the markets, not to mention in the lead on developing wikis, blogs, and other ways to generate conversation and understanding about the business.

As an aside, John was also the first to publish something about this blog, an acknowledgment that brought a lot of readers, for which I’ll always be grateful.

Today I’m happy to return that favor, though my endorsement hardly carries the weight of a Lothian mention. John recently launched the John Lothian Newsletter Metals Edition. NYSE Liffe U.S. is proud to be the exclusive sponsor.

The JLN Metals Edition is a free, daily online newsletter providing market participants with aggregated news and commentary about the metals markets. The newsletter focuses on activities in the futures markets, the physical trade and the companies that participate in either or both. The JLN Metals Edition also monitors news reporting on the metals markets, commenting on quality and scope of coverage.

John says: “Back before there was blogging, wikis, Web 2.0 and a slew of bankrupt newspapers, we tried something new to deliver news, information and informed commentary to traders, investors and other people with interests in the markets. Our goal was to help grow understanding of the markets and allow people to manage their non-price related risks better. With the launch of JLN Metals Edition, we are bringing to bear the full weight of the experience, tools and skills we have acquired to news coverage of the global metals markets. We are pleased to have NYSE Liffe U.S. support this effort.”

Chris McMahon, formerly of Futures Magazine and current adjunct instructor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, edits the newsletter, gathering news and providing commentary.

Me, I enjoy scanning it to take a quick pulse of what’s going on, and to pick up links to news and commentary that I would otherwise miss. There’s also a Twitter feed, a blog and an RSS feed.

And it’s FREE, for crying out loud.

To sign up, visit http://metals.johnlothiannewsletter.com or email ryanlothian@johnlothian.com. Enjoy.

Happy Tuesday, my friends. Reminder: the annual Russell Indices reconstitution is but three days away. Know your procedures, know your participating stocks, know your customer, know…that I got a little carried away there.

In connection with the countdown to Friday, today’s nomination for “Great Russells in World History” is a double, from my colleague Karen Lorentz:

Think basketball, Ray. Bill or Cazzie - or both.

Thanks, Karen. Here’s something about Bill Russell, as well as Cazzie Russell. They were both something to see in their day.

Nominations for the next Great Russell in World History remain open in the comment box below, but get ‘em in soon, before we run out of days in the rest of the week. And I already have a very special one planned for Friday.

Two articles from yesterday and last Friday report on how market transparency and stability are faring in the brave new world of increasingly electronic trading.

SEC spotlight puts ‘dark pool’ venues on defensive (Reuters) Excerpts:

The operators of anonymous stock trading venues called “dark pools” defended their existence on Friday, but conceded they could be more transparent after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission warned they posed “emerging risks.” …

… The widespread practice of sending pre-trade messages, known as indications-of-interest, or IOIs, could spawn big private markets to which the public does not have fair access, the chairman said. …

Observers wonder whether the SEC will crack down on flashes and IOIs, require details on those who participate in dark pools, or simply mandate better trade reporting from the murky industry.

“I’d agree that there should be more regulations on IOIs going out,” said Whit Conary, president of dark pool LeveL ATS, which was launched in 2006 and is owned by Citigroup Inc, Credit Suisse Group AG, Fidelity and Merrill Lynch, which was acquired by Bank of America Corp. “I don’t think you have to over-regulate it, but at the very least a customer has every right to know if information on his order is being sent out.”

Our comment letter on the topic is here. On a related note, my NYSE MatchPoint colleague Jim Ross reminds me in an e-mail that MatchPoint is a dark pool that, as an exchange facility, has its operational model available for review on our Web site and in our MatchPoint rules, and that MP trade reports appear on the Tape with an N and an X modifier to identify MP trades from other NYSE trades. “MatchPoint is the most transparent dark pool!!!!” Jim concludes, and yes, the extra exclamation points are his, reflecting his passion for the topic.

The other article is “Rise of the (Market) Machines” (MarketBeat). Excerpts:

Increasingly, investors and pundits are clutching at straws to explain big moves in the stock market. The difficulty in divining a fundamental explanation stems from a structural change in the U.S. stock market: The majority of stock trades now originate with fully automated “high frequency” funds, a phenomenon that has accelerated during the market turbulence of recent years because of the relative success of the strategy.

… With the rise of these automated funds, the stock market is more prone than ever to large intraday moves with little or no fundamental catalyst. Computers don’t analyze the news (although some strategies use headlines as triggers) or seek to justify their buying and selling. Even in the relative quiet of the last three months, investors have often watched individual stocks or sectors move by 10% or more without explanation.

We’ll continue to follow both topics. Your comments are welcome, as always.

Welcome to Russell Reconstitution Week, folks. In case you missed my post last Friday, this coming Friday, 26 June, will mark the annual entry and exit of issues from the Russell Indices, and this can drive a lot of trading in those issues that day and/or the days leading up to it. Check it out for links to all the related procedures and guidance.

And of course, that same post kicked off the daily series of Great Russells in World History, with Russell Goings, Jr. taking the initial honors. Today’s entry was nominated by my colleague Daniel Labovitz:

Russell Stover. Don’t know who he was, exactly, but there’s a brand of candy with his name on it, so he must have done something worthwhile…and if it was just that he made chocolates, well, that’s pretty good too.

Good enough, Dan. Happens to be my mother’s favorite candy. And since you mentioned it, here’s the official history of the candy maker.

Nominations for tomorrow’s Great Russell in World History are now open, in the comment section below.

You BRTs and TSTs out there (blog-reading traders and trade-support types) probably saw this Trader Update about the Russell indexes reconstitution taking place a week from today, but as a public service I like to call attention to the more important Updates. Because I know there’s an absolute dearth of information coming at you every millisecond of every day from every direction, so you absolutely need to hear this from me too.

Plus, it keeps me employed.

But I digress. According to the update:

On June 29, 2009, the newly rebalanced Russell indices (Russell Global Index, Russell 1000® Index, Russell 2000® Index Russell 3000® Index and Russell Microcap® Index) will go into effect and will remain in place for the next 12-month period. The newly reconstituted indices will take effect after the close of the U.S. equity markets on Friday, June 26, 2009. The Russell Investment Group will use the NYSE Closing trades to price the NYSE-listed and NYSE Amex-listed securities added to the indices.

The Update includes a link to the Procedures memo, which includes MOC/LOC rules and communication and contingency scenarios. There’s also, at no extra charge, a new Trading Near or on the Close FAQ.

As an additional public service to help you keep this big, annual market event in mind for the next week, starting today I’m giving you the first in a daily series of Great Russells in World History. Collect ‘em all.

Today’s inaugural Great Russell: Russell Goings, Jr., founder and chairman of First Harlem Securities, one of the first full-service African-American brokerage firms to own a seat on the NYSE.

Mr. Goings was here earlier this year to ring the Bell in celebration of the release of his first book of poetry, “The Children of Children Keep Coming: An Epic Griotsong.” A man worth reading about.

Got a favorite Russell to nominate? The comment box awaits below.

Beginning on Monday, 22 June, NYSE will begin including trading-floor brokers’ d-Quotes and pegging e-Quotes eligible to trade in the close in the NYSE closing order-imbalance information that is disseminated beginning at 3:55 p.m.

The goal is to increase transparency and provide opportunities for contra-side interest to develop, thereby decreasing volatility and ultimately contributing to the maintenance of a fair and orderly market.

d-Quotes are discretionary orders sent by brokers as agent for customers; pegging e-Quotes are orders sent by brokers that are “pegged” to the bid or offer.

Here’s a memo with a fuller explanation of the change.

Have a good weekend, folks. And to all the dads out there and everyone who loves a dad, Happy Father’s Day.

Beginning on Monday, 22 June, NYSE will begin including trading-floor brokers’ d-Quotes and pegging e-Quotes eligible to trade in the close in the NYSE closing order-imbalance information that is disseminated beginning at 3:55 p.m.

The goal is to increase transparency and provide opportunities for contra-side interest to develop, thereby decreasing volatility and ultimately contributing to the maintenance of a fair and orderly market.

d-Quotes are discretionary orders sent by brokers as agent for customers; pegging e-Quotes are orders sent by brokers that are “pegged” to the bid or offer.

Here’s a memo with a fuller explanation of the change.

Have a good weekend, folks. And to all the dads out there and everyone who loves a dad, Happy Father’s Day.

From Marisa Ricciardi: Who doesn’t love a good barbecue? The food, fun and intoxicating smell is a sure-fire sign that summer has arrived. On June 11, Smithfield Foods (NYSE:SFD) and the National Pork Board made an exclusive stop to serve delicious BBQ lunches to NYSE members and employees. Smithfield Foods visited Wall Street to promote “The Other White Meat Tour,” scheduled to cross the country all summer long.

In addition to great food and music, Ray Lampe, “Dr. BBQ,” performed live demos on preparing great pork loin roasts and offered tips and techniques for handling pork in just minutes. The live demos appeared on a big-screen plasma TV that attendees and the public enjoyed throughout the day.

The Other White Meat Tour is scheduled to visit 27 cities nationwide throughout the summer months. This past weekend the tour stopped in Manhattan at the Big Apple Barbecue in Madison Square Park. Next stops include Birmingham, AL and Washington, D.C. If the food and energy are anywhere near what was experienced on Wall Street, you won’t be disappointed!

From Marisa Ricciardi: Who doesn’t love a good barbecue? The food, fun and intoxicating smell is a sure-fire sign that summer has arrived. On June 11, Smithfield Foods (NYSE:SFD) and the National Pork Board made an exclusive stop to serve delicious BBQ lunches to NYSE members and employees. Smithfield Foods visited Wall Street to promote “The Other White Meat Tour,” scheduled to cross the country all summer long.

In addition to great food and music, Ray Lampe, “Dr. BBQ,” performed live demos on preparing great pork loin roasts and offered tips and techniques for handling pork in just minutes. The live demos appeared on a big-screen plasma TV that attendees and the public enjoyed throughout the day.

The Other White Meat Tour is scheduled to visit 27 cities nationwide throughout the summer months. This past weekend the tour stopped in Manhattan at the Big Apple Barbecue in Madison Square Park. Next stops include Birmingham, AL and Washington, D.C. If the food and energy are anywhere near what was experienced on Wall Street, you won’t be disappointed!