Siehe Artickel: Ein Sitz an der CME in Chicago kostet 30000$ muss man da nicht kaufen - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[FrankScheunert]

CHICAGO, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Online brokerage E-Trade Group Inc. (ET) confirmed on Tuesday it has acquired institutional broker Engleman Securities Inc. for $7.25 million in a move that expands E-Trade`s presence on the Chicago Stock Exchange.

The deal closed on Dec. 17, according to a statement provided by E-Trade to Reuters.

"This acquisition adds 16 experienced traders to E-Trade Financial`s talent pool and will assist us in future growth of our institutional brokerage business," the statement said.

Engleman Securities handles about 15 million shares daily and has 16 employees, nine of whom are block traders who specialize in trading large quantities of stock.

The deal marks the second recent acquisition of a Chicago Stock Exchange company by E-Trade, based in Menlo Park, California.

Last year E-Trade bought Dempsey & Co LLC, a market maker on the Chicago exchange, for $173.5 million in cash and stock.

David Herron, the Chicago exchange`s new chief executive officer, welcomed the news, saying the combination strengthens the exchange.

"This acquisition does not significantly increase E-trade`s percentage of Chicago Stock Exchange memberships. I don`t think the acquisition was driven by E-trade`s desire to increase influence over the exchange. When our members get stronger, we get stronger," Herron said.

But some traders noted the deal would make E-Trade a formidable competitor.

GREATER INFLUENCE SEEN

"I assume it would give them more influence on the floor regarding institutional trading," said Scott Freyn, president of Dougall and Associates, a broker-dealer for institutional trading on the exchange.

Founded in 1882, the Chicago exchange trades more than 3,600 stocks and has 450 memberships. It is the third-largest U.S. stock exchange by volume behind the New York Stock Exchange and its Chicago-based electronic rival, the Cincinnati Stock Exchange.

As a regional exchange, the Chicago exchange offers an alternative marketplace for stocks primarily listed elsewhere, including Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.

"The Chicago Stock Exchange allows traders to get better information regarding liquidity in a stock," said Roger Hendrick, vice president of Engleman Securities. "The specialists on the floor get faster executions of trades and they are more responsive to customers than other exchanges."

During the past 12 months, however, membership prices at the Chicago exchange have slid more than 53 percent.

As of Dec. 11, a seat fetched $30,000, down from $65,000 last December and dramatically below the record high of $350,000 in August 2000 during the bull market in stocks.

In a recent interview with Reuters, Herron blamed the drop in membership values to a decline in retail interest hit by the current downturn in the stock market and pressure on profit margins linked to decimalization of stock prices.

"The greatest bull market of all time ended in the first quarter of 2000. Now we are suffering a big hangover from that," Herron said.

But the chief executive, who started his new post on Nov. 1, was confident that seat prices would rebound as interest in trading recovers.

"Most people do not buy exchange seats for investment purposes. You buy a seat on the exchange in order to conduct business," he said.

Herron believed last year`s switch to pricing U.S. stocks in cents rather than fractions of a dollar had an impact on many exchange member firms and customers.

"Combined with the bear market and a drop in customer activity, seat prices suffered as the industry struggles to adapt to this new environment," Herron said.

"With decimalization providing more price points, professional traders and customers alike are finding it difficult to determine where true liquidity lies," he said.

(With additional reporting by Joyce Armour)

[TerminmarktWelt.de [KommA]]

Mit Brille wär` das nicht passiert !

Im Bericht steht `Chicago Stock Exchange`, also die kleine Aktienbörse mitten in Chicago.

Eine Mitgliedschaft an der CME = Chicago Mercantile Exchange kostet mehrere hunderttausend US-Dollar.

Noch teurer ist es an der New York Mercantile Exchange; vor 20 Jahren 10.000 $, heute bei 1.200.000 bis 1.400.000 $.

Gruss TerminmarktWelt.de