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To: Sir Francis Drake who wrote (12290)	5/26/1999 10:36:00 PM
From: nick nelson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16892

Grasso Tells NYSE Members Night Trading May Not Be Profitable Bloomberg News May 26, 1999, 5:07 p.m. PT Grasso Tells NYSE Members Night Trading May Not Be Profitable New York, May 26 (Bloomberg) -- New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso told members he doesn't expect evening trading to be profitable, though it may be necessary to prevent the world's largest stock market from losing business. During a meeting at the exchange, Grasso said he'd prefer that the securities industry complete its most important projects before adding hours. These include converting stock price increments from fractions to decimals and grappling with computer problems associated with the year 2000. ''He thinks extended hours at this time are a bad idea,'' said Richard Rosenblatt, who attended the meeting and owns a brokerage that services institutions. ''He doesn't think it's in the public interest. But he will not permit our competitors to offer markets in listed securities without the New York Stock Exchange providing a better alternative.'' Eclipse Trading, a New York company, plans to offer evening trading this summer, primarily for investors who buy and sell online. Other firms have similar plans, and the Nasdaq Stock Market, the Big Board's chief rival, has discussed introducing an evening session as soon as September. Grasso told members, who include floor brokers and specialists who make markets, that the NYSE will be prepared for evening trading in the second week of July. The Nasdaq, a screen-based market, is considering trading from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. each night. The NYSE is looking at a 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. session. Regular market hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nasdaq Hours At a meeting of small brokerages last night, Richard Ketchum, president of the National Association of Securities Dealers, said Nasdaq has no intention of trading NYSE stocks in an evening session. Grasso expressed skepticism about that pledge, members said. Ketchum said he, too, is unenthusiastic about extended hours but is being driven by competition. The Nasdaq originally considered adding hours this summer. Now the earliest start date is September, Ketchum said. Grasso had originally proposed longer hours for mid-2000. Many of the hundreds who attended the NYSE meeting expressed their support for Grasso's position with a show of hands, Rosenblatt said. Grasso reiterated that evening trading would occur auction-style on the exchange floor. The Nasdaq board met today, and its parent, the NASD, may take up extended hours tomorrow, officials said. The NYSE board meets June 3. Brokerage executives are concerned their employees and computers will be overwhelmed by additional hours. Like Grasso, they question whether the extra volume will offset additional costs. Though the industry has conducted extensive ''Y2K'' testing, they share Grasso's anxiety that some computers may foul up transactions after Jan. 1 by interpreting ''00'' as 1900 rather than 2000. ''There are only a certain amount of resources to go around, and priority No. 1 is Y2K,'' said Matthew Johnson, managing director in charge of Nasdaq trading at Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm. ''Anything else would pull resources from Y2K. You can't just pull a switch and keep the market open for another few hours.''