[MidKnight]

Just read this headline. I wonder what this might mean for the OSE, and more importantly, for us as traders.

"OSAKA (Nikkei)--The Osaka Securities Exchange said Wednesday it has agreed to form a business alliance with Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., which operates the Nasdaq stock market in the U.S."

[Soultrader]

Yea I heard this from the OSE guys last year. Not sure exactly what the deal is but I during the FIA here in Tokyo I attended a conference discussing the future of exchanges. Compared to the growth of the rest of the world, Japanese exchanges are not progressing at all. Regulations differ from many other exchanges as well as the exchange systems are outdated. TOCOM takes 3 secs of latency to get a fill. Thats how bad it is.

This alliance might be for OSE to use Nasdaq's system for options. I did hear info that OSE was planning on launching options. Also TFX is going to launch a mini Nikkei cash version sometime in 2009.

[MidKnight]

Hi James,

Thanks for the info. I thought TSE was supposed to have upgraded their systems by now? What sort of product is this mini nik cash thing? I assume TFX means Tokyo futures exchange?

[Soultrader]

TSE is replacing their options systems with LIFFE's system in July of 2009. TFX stands for Tokyo Financial Exchange. Another "why are you still in business" exchange with basically only one product, Euroyen futures, that kept them alive till recently. Launching the Exchange Forex Margin Contracts (also called Click365 in Japan) did go on to becoming a hit amongst the retail crowd.

The mini-Nikkei cash version from what I here will track the Nikkei Cash Index and not the futures. So basically a mini Nikkei ETF I think. Once I find out more info Ill let you know.