stock exchange

The fabled New York Stock Exchange isn't what it used to be. Today's NYSE Euronext has lost a huge volume of trading to upstart computerized exchanges in recent years, and scandals have tarnished its luster. Now, Germany's Deutsche Boerse wants to buy control of it. I say: "Sell!"

A number of stock market participants believe the SEC's decision to leave exchange-traded funds out of proposed new circuit breaker rules designed to avoid a repetition of the May 6 stock market "flash crash" may do more harm than good.

Any S&P 500 stock that has a 10% swing within five minutes would get a timeout, with trading in it paused for five minutes across all domestic equity markets. That last point is key.