JERSEY CITY, N.J., Jan. 12, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Direct Edge announced today statistical information regarding its volume for December 2008. Direct Edge reported 1.1 billion shares handled per day in December, representing a 108% year-over-year increase. Direct Edge's handled market share in all U.S. equity securities was 12.26% for the month, with a 6.93% matched market share -- both record highs. For volume handled in the month of December, Direct Edge was the third largest U.S. cash equities marketplace.
"2008 was a year of phenomenal growth for Direct Edge," said William O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer of Direct Edge. "Our handled market share is up more than 40% from last December and our matched market share has increased by over 60%. We look forward to continued growth as we follow our path to exchange status."
The table below shows Direct Edge's market share broken out by listing market:
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Listing Market Handled Matched
Market Share Market Share
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NYSE 13.49% 7.10%
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NYSE Arca, NYSE Alternext 8.87% 5.55%
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NASDAQ 12.14% 7.83%
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The number of shares executed in Direct Edge's Enhanced Liquidity Provider (ELP) Program for December was a record 169.5 million (ADV). The ADV for MidPoint Match(sm) was 8.5 million.
All volume and market share statistics reflect single-counted data across all Direct Edge trading destinations -- EDGA, EDGX, and the ISE Stock Exchange. December is the first month the ISE Stock Exchange's volume is being included in Direct Edge's overall total. ISE Stock Exchange volume for the entire month is included. Direct Edge took operational control of ISE Stock Exchange on December 23, 2008. For a detailed explanation of Direct Edge's volume and market share terminology and methodology, please see http://www.directedge.com/marketshare_terminology.aspx
About Direct Edge
Direct Edge offers the next generation of displayed markets. With U.S. cash equities volume routinely exceeding 1 billion shares per day, Direct Edge uses multiple ECN and exchange platforms and unique order types to match complementary forms of liquidity based on sensitivity to transaction cost, fill rate, fill speed, and contra-side sophistication, while maintaining high execution quality and low latencies. Headquartered in Jersey City, N.J., Direct Edge is owned by a consortium that includes the International Securities Exchange, Knight Capital Group, Inc., Citadel Derivatives Group, The Goldman Sachs Group, and J.P. Morgan. More information about Direct Edge is available at http://www.directedge.com. Everybody Needs Some Edge.
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