We've suggested before that dark pools might face some turbulence in the face of a bear market, that will likely lead to severely reduced trading volume--at some point, anyway. For a harbinger, we can look to Europe. According to Financial News Online, trading volume has plunged across Europe and that has really cut into business at dark pool venues. It's no wonder then that the LSE's Baikal has been postponed, as has the NYSE Euronext's SmartPool. Also, the move by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and UBS to link their services in Europe the way they did in the U.S. is still in progress, with no launch date in sight. What does this mean for the U.S. market? Volume is bound to slow, which will up the stakes for the top players. Marginal players will be forced into some tough survival decisions.

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