Located in the CBD of Philadelphia, NASDAQ OMX PHLX (previously the Philadelphia Stock Exchange) was founded in 1790 as the Board of Brokers and is the oldest stock exchange in the United States. During its more than 200 years of history, the PHLX has gone through many location and name changes, but has held on to its determination to provide an efficient and transparent service to its listed companies, brokers and investors. Now, as part of the NASDAQ OMX group, the PHLX continues in its tradition of service excellence.
Trading more than 2,600 equity options, US dollar-settled options and sector index options, PHLX offers a range of floor-based and electronic services backed by NASDAQ’s state-of-the-art INET technology. Firms listed with PHLX can gain access to all five of NASDAQ’s US markets by means of NASDAQ’s primary data center. These five markets are the NASDAQ Stock Market, NASDAQ OMX BX, NASDAQ OMX Futures Exchange, NASDAQ Options Market and, of course, NASDAQ OMX PHLX.
PHLX customers have two market models from which to choose, depending on their needs. NASDAQ OMX PHLX offers electronic and hybrid floor-based trading, complex orders and a traditional allocation model, while NASDAQ OPTIONS offers electronic trading, diverse order types and a price/time priority model – both of which provide a comprehensive product portfolio, cost effectiveness, pricing options and super fast technology platforms. Among its top ten equities as at February 2010, were Wells Fargo, Citigroup, NRG Energy, Kraft Foods, Zions Bancorp, Exxon Mobil and Apple Inc., with its total equity options volume standing at 1.5 million.
Traditionally the backbone of the Philadelphia economy has been manufacturing and other related distribution sectors. But since the end of the second World War this industrial base has declined, and today the economy is geared more toward service-based and information businesses. This includes telecommunications, computer-based businesses, insurance companies and finance, as well as the printing and publishing industries. Tourism in Philadelphia also makes a significant contribution to the local economy.
