This is the second weekly edition of the NYX Aggregator, but with a new name: NYX 360. I asked for suggestions about the name, and one of you stepped up: hat tip to Mark Schaedel, my MDCWIA (Market Data colleague working in Amsterdam). The new name is shorter (which is always better) and has a more global-view feeling to it. Perfect for a fast-moving, global company.

Now to it:

“A good day…for the hatmakers,” I overheard Art Cashin quip on the NYSE trading floor at the close on Wednesday, when the Dow again closed above 10,000. From MarketBeat that day, this pictorial history of the “Dow 10,000″ hats proves Art right (as usual), and this one puts the milestone in proper perspective (seen this movie before).

How will our new U.S. data center impact member firms? Read up on it here.

CEO Duncan Niederauer sees no reason to restrict high-frequency trading, Reuters reports. At the same press briefing he also says that centrally clearing over-the-counter derivative trades and tightening reporting requirements are more important than moving swaps onto listed trading platforms, Dow Jones reports.

The bad idea that never dies — that of a securities transaction tax — is under discussion again, Traders magazine reports. Read how in Sweden, even a small tax sent would-be taxpayers to other markets, and volume fell by 85 percent.

The most-viewed item on John Lothian’s metals newsletter the other day was the trailer for “FLOORED,” a movie about trading futures in Chicago.

NYSE Euronext and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation finalized their agreement to create an innovative new joint venture, New York Portfolio Clearing (NYPC). NYPC will be the first to bring together cash positions and their natural derivatives hedge in an open manner designed to substantially improve operational and capital efficiency as well as transparency.

A Little Rock, Ark. newspaper publisher won’t drop printed stock listings. He says he doesn’t want to give readers another reason not to pick up the paper — wow, what a concept!

NYSE Amex’s plan to trade Nasdaq stocks is “a good move for the NYSE and it’ll be good for investors to have an additional market destination providing liquidity in Tape C stocks,” Jamil Nazarali, managing director of Knight Equity Markets, tells Traders.

Conor Allen, head of R&D at NYSE Technologies, says speed is on the rise in our feed handlers, not just our exchanges.

NYSE Euronext’s Alternext market aims for more listings.

We’ve streamlined the process for getting permissioned to participate in NYSE MatchPoint and the New York Block Exchange. So if you’re not on board already, no better time to get started.

Ringing the NYSE Bell was a high point for business students at High Point University. I never cease to be amazed by the effect of visiting the trading floor on guests from every walk of life, not to mention ringing the bell.

The New York Times runs a front-page story that is more than two years old — Big Board loses market share — and misses the turnaround story going on right now. Pity that.

I demand a recount: somehow the Huffington Post’s list of hottest bell ringers failed to include your humble blogger, who has been up on the bell balcony a couple of times and is very hurt by this.

And we close the week with a tongue-in-cheek question: Did high-frequency trading kill Michael Jackson? HFT has jumped the shark as a scapegoat, says “Kid Dynamite.”

Columnist Matthew Goldstein of Reuters yesterday posted a pieceabout the possible role of high-frequency trading in the plunge in Nasdaq-listed Dendreon’s stock last April (69 percent in 70 seconds). The post was followed by some interesting comments both for and against high-frequency trading.

I don’t have any inside knowledge about that incident, but I do want to offer a different perspective, which I’ve voiced here before: when a stock is being hit by a wave of erroneous orders, or a hoaxed news story, investors can benefit from a couple of unique features in the New York Stock Exchange’s market model. As I commented in response to Matthew’s column:

Matt — Disclosure: I do PR for NYSE Euronext, which runs the New York Stock Exchange and other markets.

One aspect not discussed above: had Dendreon been listed on the NYSE, I don’t think there’s any way the stock would have lost almost $17 in 70 seconds. Had it been on NYSE, a designated market maker would have spotted the move and worked with exchange staff to immediately halt the stock until the situation could be sorted out. The rapid price change also would have triggered Liquidity Replenishment Points, which pause automated trading briefly and also would have called attention to it.

We have seen this movie before, for example, last year with the stock of UAL Corp., as I blogged about here: http://exchanges.nyse.com/archives/2008/ 09/ual.php

I am not kicking fully automated markets — we operate several ourselves — but I am suggesting that having people with assigned responsibilities to make fair and orderly markets in specific issues, and take action before such mistakes get to be much of a problem, is a benefit of the NYSE market model that is often overlooked. — Ray
- Posted by Ray Pellecchia

Hat tip to the NYSE member who called the column to my attention.

Steve Forbes has just posted a compilation of excerpts from the 50 interviews with financial leaders he’s done in the first year of his Intelligent Investing series. Here’s the piece he pulled from his talk with NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer:

Forbes: You think your firm now has some trading efficiencies which are highly important. Can you quickly enumerate some of them?

Duncan Niederauer (NYSE Euronext CEO): I think what’s unique is the market model that’s different. I think we have an ability, I view it as a real-time lever, where we’ve got a floor, we can intervene human judgment, and no other all-electronic marketplace can. Even our own all-electronic marketplace. We run the NYSE Arca platform that’s all electronic to compete with the other all-electronic markets like Nasdaq, like Direct Edge, like BATS.

We’re going to keep the floor at the NYSE, because we think what makes it unique is you look at a period like September and October, volatility explodes, clients wanted to trade blocks of stock, not 500 or 1,000 shares at a time. We were the only market that was effectively positioned to do that at any time during the day. So I think that makes it fairly unique. At the same time, we had to get fast enough to be competitive with the rest of the marketplaces. So when I got there with some of my key lieutenants, one of the things we embarked on was an 18 to 24 month redo of the technology, so that our technology is now as fast as everyone else, just about, when we need it to be. But then we have that ability to intervene human judgment, real time, if we have to, too.

Hope you’re having a marvelous Monday. On the trivia front: Elmer Sperry was born on this day in 1860 (died 1930); here’s the New York Times obituary on his remarkable life. Excerpt:

More than fifty years of Mr. Sperry’s life had been devoted to invention. At his death, he was said to have taken out nearly 400 patents, about double the number taken out by Edison.

He is best known for his utilization of the gyroscope for the stabilization of ships, airplanes and aerial torpedoes. Only about two months ago [as of June 1930] a giant army bombing plane, equipped with two Sperry gyroscopes serving as automatic pilots, flew from Sacramento to San Francisco without the guidance of human hands.

He also invented the gyro compass, which eliminated the variations due to the earth’s magnetism. Next he invented ” metal mike,” the automatic steersman, which keeps a ship on a set course. Next he used it to stabilize ships and to keep them on an even keel in all kinds of weather. Later, he applied the gyroscope to airplanes, with devices to give fliers artificial horizons, enabling them to fly “blind” in dense fogs.

In addition, he invented new systems of street lighting, new machinery for mining, electric devices for trolley cars, an electric automobile, a lighting system for motion picture projection, an electric arc light, a high-power searchlight and electrochemical processes.

Starting today, I’m trying something new: NYX Aggregator, a weekly summary of news from or about NYSE Euronext and its various markets, products, and services. Items from here, there and everywhere, filtered through the glass onion of yours truly, and I think that’s enough Beatles references for one sentence. But hey, cut me some slack — today is John Lennon’s birthday.

We’ll continue to post individual items when we have something substantive to say, but hopefully the summary will help fill what I think is a yawning gap in the blog’s coverage. To explain: The company is generating a firehose flow of information, and I’ve been trying to catch it in a paper cup. A merry band of bloggers is growing in number among my colleagues in their respective areas, but still there are businesses and geographic regions unspoken for. So I’m hoping NYX Aggregator will offer you a better glimpse of what’s happening at the company as a whole.

So here goes:

The initial public offering of Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. lists on NYSE and raises $7 billion, making it the largest IPO ever conducted by a Brazilian company. Bem-vindo! (I hope that Portuguese for “welcome!”)

Another important listing: Juniper Networks is moving to NYSE from Nasdaq, reports the Associated Press. And Reuters. And — I won’t keep listing others, but can you tell I’m more than a little happy about this?

CNBC, Securities Industry News and the Wall Street Journal all report on the remaking of the NYSE trading floor, blogged here. Have to admit, when I saw the Journal’s headline, “Extreme Makeover: Big Board Edition,” I thought someone had leaked word of my impending nose job.

Colin Clark finds that the volume traded by NYSE designated market makers, floor brokers and supplemental liquidity providers has nearly doubled in 11 months.

Two of the disciplinary actions announced by NYSE Regulation this week involve orders at the close, and one involves odd-lot orders — two of the many topics I know are of interest to the traders and regulators out there.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange launches its Tdex+ system for trading options, with lower latency and bigger capacity powered by our LIFFE CONNECT® technology. (You had to know I was going to throw an ® somewhere in this piece.)

Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT) takes our FastPath process to cross-list on our Paris market, making it the fifth NYSE-listed company to take advantage of the streamlined, cost-effective Fast Path process since it became available last year.

Corporate responsibility is not an oxymoron — it’s part of our DNA, says my colleague Walt Lukken, senior VP of Market Structure.

And that wraps up this maiden voyage. Please let me know what you think — is this kind of thing helpful? How about readable? Just gimme some truth. And if you can think of a better standing headline, I’d love to hear it. It’s up to you — yeah, you!

Today in NYSE History
09 Oct. 1953 — Volume of only 900,000 shares marked the last time the NYSE traded less than a million shares a day.

Above is CNBC’s report from earlier today on the remaking of the NYSE trading floor. I’m kinda stoked to see the project now actually underway, and can’t wait to see it completed. Here’s a rendering of the new look from Perkins Eastman, our architects:

But more than a new look, it’s designed to enhance the way business is done on the trading floor and in the NYSE market as a whole.

Sang Lee, managing partner at Aite Group, put it this way in an article on the same subject in this week’s Securities Industry News: “Having a unified trading environment that can adequately bridge the world of electronic and high touch would align the NYSE with what has become a reality in the trading market.”

Another piece, in today’s Wall Street Journal, says in part: “The technology upgrades aim to make it easier to electronically trade stocks, futures and options at multiple exchanges from the floor. That would give traders from member firms the tools they would have at an off-site facility, or “upstairs” in Big Board parlance, with the benefit of access to the buzz of the main trading floor.”

Coupled with the news in Colin’s post earlier today about how our designated market makers, floor brokers and supplemental liquidity providers are adding more liquidity these days, we’ve got a good trend building at NYSE, and we’re looking to continue honing our competitive edge and being the most compelling destination for your business.

Above is CNBC’s report from earlier today on the remaking of the NYSE trading floor. I’m kinda stoked to see the project now actually underway, and can’t wait to see it completed. Here’s a rendering of the new look from Perkins Eastman, our architects:

But more than a new look, it’s designed to enhance the way business is done on the trading floor and in the NYSE market as a whole.

Sang Lee, managing partner at Aite Group, put it this way in an article on the same subject in this week’s Securities Industry News: “Having a unified trading environment that can adequately bridge the world of electronic and high touch would align the NYSE with what has become a reality in the trading market.”

Another piece, in today’s Wall Street Journal, says in part: “The technology upgrades aim to make it easier to electronically trade stocks, futures and options at multiple exchanges from the floor. That would give traders from member firms the tools they would have at an off-site facility, or “upstairs” in Big Board parlance, with the benefit of access to the buzz of the main trading floor.”

Coupled with the news in Colin’s post earlier today about how our designated market makers, floor brokers and supplemental liquidity providers are adding more liquidity these days, we’ve got a good trend building at NYSE, and we’re looking to continue honing our competitive edge and being the most compelling destination for your business.

From my colleague Colin Clark in Strategic Analysis:

Since the rollout of the new market model in October 2008, NYSE continues to evolve and grow its three unique liquidity provider programs: 1) Designated Market Makers (DMMs), 2) Supplemental Liquidity Providers (SLPs), and 3) Floor Brokers. The volume traded by this group has nearly doubled in 11 months. Together these programs account for 26% of NYSE volume, up from 13% in November 2008. NYSE’s low take fees, coupled with the strong liquidity provision from the DMMs and SLPs, help make NYSE a superior venue to send your orders.

(click to enlarge chart)

Designated Market Makers (DMMs) - Today, the five DMMs are among the most active trading firms on the NYSE, accounting for an aggregate 9.1% of NYSE volume in September 2009, up from 3.6% in September 2008, prior to the rollout of NYSE’s new market model. There is only one DMM per issue. They have strong obligations to maintain an orderly market, quote at the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) and facilitate price discovery during openings, closings and imbalances. In September, NYSE introduced new incentive-based quoting standards by issue that have further increased the percentage of time and size the DMMs are at the NBBO. The statistics in the charts below highlight the significant price support provided by the DMMs. In September 2009, DMMs quoted at the NBBO 43.3% of the time, DMMs represented 18.2% of the NYSE quote size at the NBBO, and 91.5% of DMM volume traded was liquidity providing (versus liquidity removing).

(click to enlarge chart)

Supplemental Liquidity Providers (SLPs) - There are currently six SLPs and three applications are pending. There may be several SLPs per issue providing liquidity complementary to that of the DMMs. SLPs are upstairs electronic trading firms utilizing proprietary capital. The SLP program began in November 2008 and recently accounted 9.5% of NYSE volume traded in September 2009. Like the DMMs, SLPs also have quoting obligations. On average, SLPs quote at the NBBO 27.9% of the time, and more than 90% of SLP volume is liquidity adding in nature.

(click to enlarge chart)

Floor Brokers - There are 102 floor broker firms, which accounted for 7.8% of NYSE volume in September 2009. Floor brokers differentiate the NYSE market model by providing human expertise and value-added service to facilitate larger-sized institutional orders. Floor brokers have parity with other orders in NYSE’s allocation model and may service customers using algorithms, which accounts for one-quarter of their activity. Floor brokers also use their booths as an “upstairs” trading desk to send orders to multiple markets. The NYSE is in the process of replacing the broker booths with modern trading desks to create a unified trading environment for “upstairs” and on-floor operations.

(click to enlarge chart)

From Marisa Ricciardi: Promoting financial literacy is a top priority for NYSE Euronext. As Ray discussed in his June 8 post, we are taking a much more active role in supporting initiatives that educate the public on the fundamentals of economics, personal finance and investing.

To further this initiative, NYSE Euronext and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) partnered to reinforce their commitment to financial literacy and present a satellite media tour for Financial Football, Visa’s free interactive video game aimed to put personal finance skills to the test.

On Wednesday, September 23, over 1,000 DVDs of the video game were distributed throughout the Exchange community. To celebrate the launch, Visa Chairman and CEO Joseph W. Saunders rang the Opening Bell along with NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer and soccer stars Landon Donovan & Brian McBride. NYSE will use Financial Football as part of its ongoing financial literacy outreach with teachers across the country. We hope this to be the first of many goals in a great season of promoting financial literacy.

To learn more and play the game, visit www.practicalmoneyskills.com

Promoting financial literacy is a top priority for NYSE Euronext. As Ray discussed in his June 8 post, we are taking a much more active role in supporting initiatives that educate the public on the fundamentals of economics, personal finance and investing.

To further this initiative, NYSE Euronext and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) partnered to reinforce their commitment to financial literacy and present a satellite media tour for Financial Football, Visa’s free interactive video game aimed to put personal finance skills to the test.

On Wednesday, September 23, over 1,000 DVDs of the video game were distributed throughout the Exchange community. To celebrate the launch, Visa Chairman and CEO Joseph W. Saunders rang the Opening Bell along with NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer and soccer stars Landon Donovan & Brian McBride. NYSE will use Financial Football as part of its ongoing financial literacy outreach with teachers across the country. We hope this to be the first of many goals in a great season of promoting financial literacy.

To learn more and play the game, visit www.practicalmoneyskills.com