Philly's Last Shot?
By Erin Arvedlund
Staff Reporter
5/1/99 12:20 AM ET
As an alternative to the Options Forum this week, here is a report from the
Options Industry Council conference in California.
CARLSBAD, CALIF. -- The man now most responsible for the fate of the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange may be Richard Grasso, the head of the New York
Stock Exchange.
Of all the strange twists the Philly's course has taken -- a management
scandal, an aggressive takeover bid by the Chicago Board Options Exchange
and, last week, the end of its long Nasdaq-Amex merger talks -- the strangest
may be the recent emergence of the Big Board as a rumored suitor.
While a Big Board-Philadelphia deal is laughed off by many in the industry,
Philly sources say top officials of the two exchanges have been in
discussions for the last week. There are even whispers that an announcement
could come as soon as next week, those sources say.
A NYSE spokesman declined to comment Thursday.
There are many nonbelievers. "What's happening is rumors flying around,
particularly after [PHLX head Meyer "Sandy"] Frucher distanced himself from
the Amex," says Francis Recchuiti, an attorney who represents PHLX member
Joseph D. Carapico. Carapico is a dissident member of the Philadelphia who
sued to stop the merger with Nasdaq-Amex.
But the implausible deal -- it's implausible mostly because the Big Board
sold its options unit to the CBOE in 1995 -- also is being seen as a
last-ditch attempt by the Philadelphia Stock Exchange to partner up. The
exchange has a small stock-trading business, and its options business is the
smallest among the four competing exchanges. On top of that, its premier
options listing, Dell (DELL:Nasdaq), will likely be traded on the other
exchanges before the end of 1999.
"We've cleaned up the house in terms of technology and governance. Stay
tuned," says Frucher, who was spending the latter part of the week at the
Options Industry Council conference here. "It's a great feeling to get off
the mat." |
