Markit Ltd Makes NASDAQ Debut

Markit Ltd made its debut on the NASDAQ stock exchange on 19 June.Markit is a Bloomberg-like company,said CNBC host Jim Cramer.It's a very important company.General Atlantic,which owns a 7.5% stake in Markit,is not a seller on the deal-which means buy the stock.General Atlantic deals work.Markit is a very profitable company.CEO and co-founder Lance Uggla is brilliant and he's hitting it out of the park,Jim Cramer enthused.*
Founded in 2003,Markit provides financial information products to bankers,investment advisors and other financial professionals.The products include indices,pricing and reference data,customised technology platforms and processing solutions.They are aimed at enhancing transparency,reducing risk and improving operational efficiency.The London-based company employs 3,000 people in 10 countries.*
Markit stakeholder General Atlantic is a global growth equity firm,providing capital and strategic support for growth companies.It invested in Markit in 2010.*
Markit Ltd(MRKT)

Analyst:NASDAQ Exchange May Be Acquired By Asians

Ed Ditmire,Capital Markets Analyst at Macquarie Group Limited,thinks the NASDAQ/OMX Group,the Times Square-based stock exchange,is characterized by efficiency and lower growth,with an equity emphasis.It is pressured by the forthcoming merger of Deutsche Boerse-NYSE/Euronext,but seems to be more of a target than an acquirer.
A large Asian exchange such as Hong Kong may go after NASDAQ/OMX.After all,Hong Kong uses the NASDAQ trading system.
Mr.Ditmire is very positive on the stock exchange sector.There are better business trends now,with more mergers and acquisitions.It's hard to rule out any deal as having no merit.
NASDAQ/OMX is reportedly considering a range of options to respond to the NYSE deal,from launching a rival bid for NYSE with a partner,to buying another exchange,as well as possibly selling itself.The company fears being marginalised.
Macquarie Group Limited is a full service financial firm with 15,500 employees.It is based in Sydney,Australia and has 300 billion dollars under management.
Macquarie Group Limited(MQG),NASDAQ/OMX Group(NDAQ)

NASDAQ's Upward Trend Line

Robert Greifeld,CEO of NASDAQ/OMX,a global exchange company,says they certainly feel the trend line for initial public offerings will continue upward for 2010.On a relative basis,he thinks the feeling is better than it was in January 2009.We know a number of tech companies are filing for IPOs,Mr. Greifeld revealed,and we feel good about that.NASDAQ has a strong appeal for the younger firms,many of them Asian.We will be part of a virtuous cycle in 2010,Robert Greifeld believes.One unifying theme:the businesses we are in are highly scalable.They have incremental revenue with very little incremental cost.
I cannot speak for Dubai,Mr.Greifeld cautioned,but in conversations they have expressed their support for what we're doing.Equities trading volumes on NASDAQ Dubai rose by 30% in 2009 to 3.10 billion shares,from 2.39 billion shares for 2008.Equities derivatives have also traded on the exchange since November 2008.Dubai Gold Securities,which are Shariah-compliant,were listed in March of 2009.