Trading Newsflashes: NYFIX Stock Is Delisted From Nasdaq NMS, and more

NYFIX Stock Is Delisted From Nasdaq NMS

NYFIX said this week that Nasdaq is delisting its stock from the National Market System as of Tuesday, Nov. 1, and that its shares would be traded on the Pink Sheets under the symbol NYFX. According to NYFIX's release, Nasdaq had previously provided the company with an extension until Oct. 31 to refile its financial reporting, but the company will not meet this deadline. The company intends to return to the National Market System as soon as it becomes current with its public filing requirements.

In addition, NYFIX announced that its independent registered public accountant, Deloitte & Touche LLP, resigned. The company is currently interviewing accounting firms and proceeding as expeditiously as possible to hire a new registered public accounting firm, NYFIX states in the release.

As stated in the company's 8-K dated Oct. 19 and 20, NYFIX expects to restate its previously issued financial statements to recognize approximately $2 million in additional pre-tax, non-cash compensation expense primarily over a six-year period -- 1999 through 2004, it states in the release.

According to Bob Gasser, CEO of NYFIX Millennium, "This is really an issue that's focused on financial reporting and, more specifically, focused on our options expense reporting and how much should be recorded. We've been engaged with Deloitte on that for some time," says Gasser. Despite this controversy, Gasser, who is a member of the NYFIX board of directors, says, "It's business as usual at NYFIX, and this problem with financial reporting has not impacted any of the trading systems that NYFIX operates."

Gasser also claims that "the business continues to grow and is resilient. Over the past nine months, 2005 revenues are up 30 percent over 2004." The company has $22 million in cash on the balance sheet and will probably record revenues close to $100 million in revenue this year, he says. "The company is a solid, ongoing concern."

The company, headquartered in Stamford, Conn., operates one of the largest networks connecting brokers, institutions and exchanges, and also provides trading workstations, middle-office trade technologies and trade-communication technologies.

JP Morgan Unveils TAO for Portfolio Trading

JP Morgan released Trading Algorithmic Optimizer (TAO), a new tool that determines and executes the most appropriate algorithms for trading a portfolio of stocks. According to the release, TAO offers anonymous trading while providing visibility and control at both the portfolio and individual ticker level.

"There is a growing demand for trading portfolios more efficiently," states Carl Carrie, head of product development in JPMorgan's global executions services group. "TAO represents the next generation of algorithmic trading and our most ambitious algorithmic client offering to date," Carries further states in the release.

TAO is accessible through Neovest, the broker-neutral platform, which JPMorgan acquired earlier this year, as well as through several leading order management systems.

Investment Banks Distribute Trade Ideas via Web Hub

Four investment banks launched a service on Monday to send trading ideas to their clients through a single technology platform, rather than through disparate systems.

Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson will distribute their ideas through a central Web-based hub called Trade Ideas Limited.

The investment banks said they previously sent these messages, which suggest short-or long-term trading ideas as opposed to fundamental research, over systems such as Reuters or Bloomberg.

While the banks reportedly envision this shared system as a utility for the industry, it is not intended to distribute research or replace existing systems. Other banks are expected to connect to the system as bank looks to distribute their trading ideas to active trading clients such as hedge funds.