Nyse Group Inc

NYSE Euronext, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed Thursday to buy the American Stock Exchange for $260 million to capture a bigger share of the fast-growing markets for trading options and exchange-traded funds. Under the deal, members of the 165-year-old Amex would receive shares of NYSE Euronext as well as proceeds from the sale of the Amex building in Manhattan.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will review a decision that allows markets such as the New York Stock Exchange to charge fees for stock price information, granting a request by opponents of the fees such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. The SEC said it would examine its October decision to let NYSE Group Inc.'s Arca electronic market charge for market data that it had previously provided for free.

A name chosen to represent the merger of two major U.S. brokerage watchdogs will be changed because the acronym may be considered offensive because of its similarity to an Arabic term. The Securities Industry Regulatory Authority, or SIRA, was the name that had been announced to represent the combined self-regulation of the NASD and NYSE Group.

The New York Stock Exchange began life as a publicly traded company Wednesday with a bang as its stock surged 25% in its market debut. The day marked the end of the exchange's 213-year history as a member-owned club and the start of its own membership in the red-hot publicly traded exchange sector, with its sights set firmly on growth through acquisitions and new products. The NYSE sealed its purchase of electronic rival Archipelago Holdings Inc.

NYSE Group Inc., owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said Wednesday that its quarterly profit rose nearly 17% in its first earnings report since becoming a public company. Net income was $30.3 million, or 24 cents a share, against $26 million, or 22 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 28% to $478.9 million, while expenses rose 36% to $459.1 million. NYSE became a publicly traded company March 8 through its acquisition of Archipelago Holdings Inc., an electronic trading platform.

NYSE Group Inc., operator of the New York Stock Exchange, on Wednesday said it was in talks with other exchanges that may result in an acquisition or partnership. The statement, made in an amended filing with securities regulators, came two days after the London Stock Exchange -- which has turned away a handful of suitors in the last few years -- issued a statement saying it had not received an approach from NYSE Group after media reports linked the two exchanges.

NYSE Group Inc. is close to making a bid to merge with Euronext, Europe's second-largest stock exchange, to create a transatlantic securities market, people with knowledge of the situation said. The owner of the New York Stock Exchange may offer cash and stock for Euronext as early as today, said the sources, who declined to be identified before the bid was announced. NYSE Group Chief Executive John Thain is accelerating the Big Board's push overseas after Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.

NYSE Group Inc. is open to a tie-up with Borsa Italiana, the head of the New York Stock Exchange said Thursday, two days after the Italian stock market operator's talks with Germany's Deutsche Boerse failed. Speaking at a securities conference, NYSE Chief Executive John Thain said that if the Italian market wished to explore a link, he would "certainly be open." The NYSE has agreed to acquire Euronext, a Paris-based stock and derivatives exchange.

Wall Street is getting a new top cop. In a big win for the securities industry, the two organizations that police stockbrokers and others in the industry have agreed to form a single self-regulatory body. The change is expected to cut costs for the financial industry, but some consumer advocates fear it could mean that abuses will go undetected. Under the plan announced Tuesday, regulators at NYSE Group Inc. and the NASD (formerly the National Assn.