A spokesman for the New York Stock Exchange tells me that they will be putting out a press release within the next hour responding to the NASDAQ/ICE offer. They will not be making officials available for comment. There is no immediate board meeting scheduled, but it's likely one will be in the near future.
While most traders feel that the deal makes little sense, since it would split a profitable part of the business (derivatives) from a low margin part (stock trading), a small minority has insisted that this deal would work on a level above just cost cutting. This minority insists that stock trading can expand and be profitable again.
Under the terms announced in the press release, ICE would purchase NYSE Euronext's derivatives businesses, and NASDAQ OMX would retain NYSE Euronext's remaining businesses, including the NYSE Euronext stock exchanges in New York, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Lisbon, as well as the U.S. options business.
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