Jan 17, 2008 / Pink Sheets News Service
Pink Sheets Electronic OTC Markets Announces Record Trading Volume in 2007New York, NY - January 17, 2008 - Pink Sheets LLC today announced that trading in Pink Sheets securities was over $162 billion of dollar volume and 769 billion of share volume in 2007 - making Pink Sheets the leading U.S. share trading venue after NASDAQ and NYSE.
Trading dollar volume in Pink Sheets securities was distributed in the following market tiers and categories during the month of December:
Dollar Volume Distribution - December 2007 Tier or CategorySecurities
Percentage of Total
Dollar Volume
Average Monthly Dollar
Volume per Security
OTCQX
24
5.2%
$26,019,827
Current Information
1,111
65.4%
$7,070,563
Limited Information
521
27.5%
$6,342,193
No Information
3,466
1.9%
$64,248
Total:
5,122
$2,344,170
Caveat Emptor
208
0.1%
$61,195
OTCQX is a new OTC market tier that offers a community based listing process designed for strong, trusted companies.
Advantages of an OTCQX branded listing include:
A listing on the premier OTC trading venue in the U.S.
Increased quality, quantity and availability of information in the OTC market to U.S. investors.
Distinction as a company committed to making accurate and credible disclosure available.
Enhanced reputation and visibility in the marketplace.
Pink Sheets disclosure categories were introduced in August, 2007 to separate out by their level of public disclosure the companies that are not eligible for the elite OTCQX market tier. More information is available at:http://www.pinksheets.com/pink/otcguide/categories.jsp
Increased transparency and trading efficiency have led to a tenfold expansion in OTC trading volumes since 2001:
Pink Sheets Annual Trading VolumesDollar Volume
Share Volume
2007
$162,905,110,913
769,440,803,790
2006
$113,384,270,295
1,058,536,315,977
2005
$56,701,143,455
597,022,266,202
2004
$50,664,705,773
819,497,955,348
2003
$26,519,749,632
187,539,605,819
2002
$20,147,942,092
84,119,337,664
2001
$16,111,768,880
72,102,169,207
Pink Sheets trading offers the largest worldwide pool of liquidity among alternative or entry level markets for the shares of public companies:
December Average Daily Trading Statistics for Alternative Markets*Securities
Dollar Volume
Share Volume
Pink Sheets
5,122
$631,613,030
2,040,074,479
American Stock Exchange
753
$622,197,191
85,743,745
LSE AIM
1,694
$519,166,825
513,305,000
NASDAQ Capital Market
531
$393,229,394
60,626,325
FINRA OTC Bulletin Board
3,613
$136,829,59
1,244,697,336
TSX Venture
2,338
$128,300,000
200,700,000
NYSE ARCA
12
$27,370,770
2,392,195
*-Data for U.S. markets is based on Pink Sheets estimates and does not include Exchange Traded Funds, Closed End Funds or Real Estate Investment Trusts.
-Pink Sheets data does not include the 3,489 securities that are dually quoted on the Pink Sheets and FINRA OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB).
-75 companies upgraded to NASDAQ from the Pink Sheets or the OTCBB in 2007.
Pink Link Electronic Messaging Service continues its leading position in the OTC market:
December 2007 Pink Link VolumesTrades
Dollar Volume
Share Volume
Pink Sheets
271,886
$3,883,398,724
14,144,447,031
OTCBB
269,188
$742,036,678
8,315,109,990
Total
541,074
$4,625,435,402
22,459,557,021
33% of all OTCBB share trading volume takes place across Pink Link. In comparison there were 255,265,059 shares traded on the NYSE ArcaEdge electronic platform for OTCBB securities in December 2007.
Pink Sheets community of competing Market Makers continues to grow in size and sophistication:
Top 25 Pink Link Broker Dealers for December 2007MMID
Firm Name
Dollar Volume
Share Volume
NITE
Knight Equity Markets, LP
$836,144,124
10,180,424,335
JANE
Jane Street Markets, LLC
$821,568,590
31,870,593
AUTO
Automated Trading Desk
$818,246,732
2,276,204,320
UBSS
UBS Securities LLC
$682,897,677
5,001,006,653
MLCO
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, FS, Inc.
$436,260,188
21,618,617
NIII
Noble International Inc.
$415,841,590
37,103,285
SBSH
Citigroup Global Markets Inc.
$404,414,023
8,248,817,132
INTL
Intl Trading, Inc.
$359,447,195
20,934,869
HILL
Hill Thompson Magid & Co.
$345,747,268
675,844,990
ETRD
E*Trade Capital Markets LLC
$315,691,522
5,493,554,240
DOMS
Domestic Securities, Inc.
$312,929,319
2,236,369,143
HDSN
Hudson Securities Inc
$295,020,185
2,988,688,787
GSCO
Goldman Sachs & Co.
$294,240,115
28,677,565
ABLE
Natixis Bleichroeder Inc.
$279,499,611
611,023,018
JEFF
Jefferies & Co., Inc.
$278,559,755
41,362,992
LEHM
Lehman Brothers, Inc.
$185,557,608
9,649,399
PERT
Pershing Trading Company
$157,285,665
589,265,374
MAXM
Maxim Group LLC
$156,692,733
279,967,734
CANT
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Inc.
$151,437,091
13,911,146
STEW
Collins Stewart Inc
$119,484,589
18,140,077
BEST
Bear Stearns & Co Inc
$118,576,654
68,868,538
MSCO
Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.
$108,478,644
13,546,855
VNDM
Vandham Securities Corp.
$103,577,303
259,583,223
DBAB
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
$96,654,185
6,339,258
SGAS
SG Americas Securities, LLC
$92,342,184
3,629,295
All broker-dealers using Pink Sheets quotation and trading services are regulated by FINRA for their quotations, trade reporting and best execution of customer orders.
E*Trade, Fidelity, Scottrade, TD Ameritrade and other broker dealers provide real-time Pink Sheets quotes to their customers for point and click trading and real-time market data is available on Bloomberg, Reuters, Thompson ILX, etc.
About Pink Sheets:
Pink Sheets LLC is the leading electronic quotation and trading system in the over-the-counter (OTC) securities market. We create innovative technology and data solutions to efficiently connect market participants, improve price transparency, increase issuer disclosure and better inform investors. Pink Sheets is the largest U.S. equity trading venue after NYSE and NASDAQ and operates the elite OTCQX market tier for strong OTC-traded companies that can satisfy stringent financial and disclosure listing standards.
Over 230 financial services firms, including the ten largest U.S. investment banks, actively make markets in OTCQX and Pink Sheets securities. In 2007 these firms traded over $160 billion of Pink Sheets securities. Pink Sheets offers widespread access to all U.S. broker-dealers, enabling investors to seamlessly trade these securities through their institutional, online or full service brokers.
Pink Sheets is headquartered in New York City.
To learn more about how Pink Sheets products and services make OTC markets more transparent, informed and efficient, please visit
www.pinksheets.com.