Global Forex broker FXCM announced on September 13, 2016 that it is transferring its stock trading from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to the Nasdaq Global Market. The company’s final day of trading on the NYSE will be on Friday, September 23, 2016. Trading will commence on Monday, September 26, 2016 on the Nasdaq. The company’s trading symbol will remain FXCM.
In its press release about the change, there was no reason given. The company’s CEO did note that “At this time we feel moving our shares to Nasdaq is the right decision for our business. We recognize all that the New York Stock Exchange has done for us over the last few years, and we look forward to our shares trading on Nasdaq.â€
FXCM’s stock has been the subject of much scrutiny since dropping close to 90 percent after the Swiss National Bank unlinked its currency in January 2015. By September 2015, the company’s stock had plummeted to under $1 per share, and the company faced ejection by the NYSE because its price breached the exchange’s standards. The company’s stock price eventually bounced back to nearly $25 before settling in at lower levels. At the close of the NYSE yesterday FXCM stock was trading at $9.25 per share.
NYSE vs. Nasdaq
The primary difference between the NYSE and Nasdaq exchanges is the way the transactions take place. The NYSE is an auction market through which individual traders buy and sell between one another and an auction occurs to match the highest bidding price with the lowest asking price. The Nasdaq, on the other hand, is a dealer’s market in which traders aren’t trading with each other, but through a dealer or market maker.
The price for getting listed on the Nasdaq is only $50,000 to $70,000, while a listing on the NYSE can be up to $500,000. For this reason, Nasdaq stocks are generally thought to be more tech-oriented and to have higher volatility and potential for growth, whereas NYSE stocks tend to be more stable and established companies.
