| Boston, MA, USA December 21, 2005 In an extensive study, Celent re-examines the quality of trade execution in the NYSE and Nasdaq National Market.
In an update to a study first conducted in May 2005, Celent revisits the execution quality provided by market makers, ECNs, specialists and other venues in the US equities markets. The leading execution venues for NYSE issues and for the Nasdaq National Market were ranked according to their execution based on numerous criteria. The top three overall execution venues for each market are shown below.
The Three Best Execution Venues |
| Rank |
NYSE |
Nasdaq |
| 1 |
National Stock Exchange |
Instinet |
| 2 |
Automated Trading Desk |
Fidelity (NFS) |
| 3 |
Madoff |
Bear Stearns |
According to Octavio Marenzi, author of the study, "we refined our approach to measuring execution quality, in particular how price improvement is analyzed. Many participants in the markets rely on overly simplistic approaches to measuring execution quality, which can lead to specious conclusions". The report found very large differences between market centers, even for the same types of orders and same equities. The survey considered market centers' speed, as well as frequency and size of price improvement.  The following market centers were included in the final rankings (in alphabetical order):
| Nasdaq |
NYSE |
| AG Edwards |
ArcaEx |
| ArcaEx |
ATD |
| ATD |
Brut |
| Attain |
Commonwealth |
| Bear Stearns |
E*Trade |
| Brut |
Fleet Meehan |
| Citigroup |
GVR |
| E*Trade |
Inet |
| Goldman Sachs |
Knight Cap. |
| Inet |
La Branche |
| Instinet |
LaSalle Capital |
| Knight Sec. |
Madoff |
| Madoff |
MITS |
| Merrill Lynch |
National Financial |
| Morgan Stanley |
NSX |
| Nasdaq MC |
NYFIX |
| National Financial |
NYSE ITS |
| Oppenheimer |
Pershing |
| Pershing |
PSG |
| Scottrade |
Scottrade |
| TD Waterhouse |
Spear Leeds & Kellogg |
| Tradebook |
Susquehanna |
| UBS Cap. Mkts. |
UBS Cap. Mkts. |
| UBS Securities |
Van der Moolen |
| Wachovia |
Wagner Stott Bear |
|
