ECONOMICS REPORT - Owners of the New York Stock Exchange Vot

ECONOMICS REPORT - Owners of the New York Stock Exchange Vote for Change
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, December 16, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

In April, the New York Stock Exchange proposed to join with Archipelago Holdings. On December sixth, members of the exchange approved the merger¹ by a vote of ninety-five percent.

 
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The New York Stock Exchange is two centuries old. It is the biggest in the world in terms of the value of the stocks traded. The Big Board lists almost two thousand eight hundred companies. They have a combined worth of almost twenty million million dollars.

Archipelago is less than ten years old. It is a trading technology company based in Chicago. It developed one of the first electronic trading systems. It now trades over eight thousand stocks. Many are also listed on other exchanges.

The combined company will be called the N.Y.S.E Group. Current members of the N.Y.S.E. will own seventy percent of the new company. Archipelago shareholders² will own thirty percent of it.

The New York Stock Exchange still uses an "open outcry" system. Traders shout offers to buy or sell stocks on the trading floor. But trading electronically has become more and more important.

John Thain is the chief executive officer. He talks of a "hybrid³ market" that combines human and electronic trading systems. Mister Thain says developing both gives investors⁴ the best price on trades.

Increasing electronic trading is only part of the merger deal. Since nineteen seventy-one, the New York Stock Exchange has been organized as a non-profit corporation. The current owners are the almost one thousand four hundred members known as seatholders.

The new owners will be shareholders. The exchange will become a public company like other major stock exchanges. And, like other public companies, it will have to report financial information to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The New York Stock Exchange is a self-regulatory organization. It enforces its own rules for some of its members. The National Association of Securities Dealers⁵ supervises investment traders and trading companies. Some companies are supervised by both the exchange and the association.

Some lawmakers and the Securities Industry Association are suggesting changes. They want to make policing the market simpler.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter.  I'm Steve Ember.

1 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

2 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

3 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。