Green is new black; Barroso speaks; the Russians are coming (ETFs, that is); more links

By: Ray Pellecchia

File Under: NYSE

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From AViewOnCities.com

Green Is the New Black; Wall Street Firms Reduce Data Center Energy Consumption : "The growth in our industry has been dramatic. Even over the last few weeks we've gotten spikes that make huge processing demands and we've got to be able to handle them," says CTO Steve Rubinow, noting that the NYSE tries to maintain a minimum compute capacity of twice the largest peak it is likely to see. "Those peaks just grow and grow, so we're constantly adding capabilities. We could keep throwing servers at the problem and keep on expanding until we're out of space or money. A couple of things are working in our favor." One, according to Rubinow, is that the hardware manufacturers are coming out with better equipment with faster processors and more and faster memory. "So we're able to grow to some extent within the current shell because better equipment comes down the road," he says. "The second thing is that all these hardware manufacturers are doing a good job of making their equipment more energy efficient, making it easier to cool and reducing their power requirements." (See related sidebar, "These Servers Are Really Cool," opposite page.) The NYSE relies heavily on HP and Sun Microsystems servers, Rubinow notes. (WallStreetandTechnology.com)

EC President Barroso: Strengthening the Transatlantic Economy -- Another world leader comes to the world's leading financial venue to address global issues. NYSE on Friday welcomed the President of the European Commission, H.E. José Manuel Barroso, who delivered a speech on “Strengthening the Transatlantic Economy” and rang the Closing Bell at the Exchange: “The NYSE merger with Euronext, which created the first transatlantic stock exchange, has quickly come to symbolize the tight bonds between Europe and the U.S. ” Here's the text of his speech. (Press release/nyse.com) And here's a Bloomberg interview with President Barroso: Barroso of EU Sees Benefits From NYSE, Euronext Integration

NYSE Group Lists First Russian ETF in the U.S.; Van Eck Global’s Market Vectors – Russia ETF Begins Trading: As the first ETF focused on offering investors exposure to a broad spectrum of Russian companies, RSX is sponsored by Van Eck Global and is designed to track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the DAXglobal® Russia + Index (DXRPUS). DAXglobal® Russia + Index is calculated and maintained by Deutsche Börse AG and is comprised of 30 of the most heavily traded Russian securities that have exchange listings either through an American Depository Receipt (ADR), a Global Depository Receipt (GDR) or local Russian shares. The index includes NYSE-listed Wim-Bill-Dan (NYSE: WBD), Rostelecom (NYSE: ROS), Vimpel Communications (NYSE: VIP), and Mobile Telsys (NYSE: MBT). (news release/nyse.com)

Options Penny Test `Significantly' Cut Costs, SEC Official Says : A test program to quote prices for some options in pennies has "significantly'' reduced investors' costs and may be expanded to include more contracts, a top official of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said. "At this point, I see no basis to recommend an end to the pilot,'' Elizabeth K. King, associate director of market regulation, said today at the annual conference of the Options Industry Council. "Whether and how to expand it is still very much a question. My goal would be to expand the pilot so the benefits that our preliminary analysis shows can be realized in more products.'' King's comments are among the first from an SEC official assessing the impact of the six-month test, which is scheduled to end July 25. The six U.S. options exchanges must present reports to regulators next month on trading data for the 13 options classes included in the mandated test and offer recommendations on whether to expand the program. (Bloomberg)

On This Day in 1789: George Washington took office in New York as the first president of the United States. (NYTimes.com) [His inaugural address took place at what is now Federal Hall, at the corner of Wall and Broad streets, right outside our main entrance. Today a statue (picture above) of the great man graces the steps in front of Federal Hall. I walk by it every day and always thought that the pose of the statue -- right arm and hand extended, palm down -- kinda signalled, "Hey. Chill. We'll figure out this whole new-nation thing." Of course, Washington's actual speech was a bit different. -- RP]

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