December 21, 2006
I strongly feel that price quote information should be available at no charge. The exchanges should earn their revenue from transaction fees and any value-added information which they create. I say this despite the fact that I suspect I would pay less under the proposed rule.
This proposed rule seems to be contrary to other recent SEC rules, such as the rule that public companies must disclose information freely to all people simultaneously, instead of making private comments to selected persons. As I understand the concept behind this rule, it is to allow all investors equal access to information. Proposed Rule File No. SR-NASDAQ-2006-013 would create favored recipients of pricing information.