Fidelity Investments' head of global equity trading, Scott DeSano, recently said that the human-based specialist system at the New York Stock Exchange should be eliminated in favor of an electronic system similar to that used by Nasdaq.
The specialist system, which the NYSE has used for more than two centuries, involves floor traders acting as the middleman for buyers and sellers. It is the only major stock exchange currently using that type of system.
DeSano maintains that specialists forget about investors and trade for their own good. Computers, he argues, wouldn't do that.
The notion caused a major stir among specialists, some calling the proposal "audacious."
Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.mmexecutive.com
