So how low are we going to go? The NYSE Euronext is touting a new speed milestone: It says its ARCA electronic trading unit is now executing roundtrip trades in just 650 microseconds for Nasdaq-listed issues and 950 microseconds for NYSE- and NYSE Arca-listed issues, which generally have deeper books.

A microsecond is a millionth of a second. Nasdaq's speed statistics "represent actual performance numbers (vs. lab tests) validated by Correlix," spokesman Robert Madden tells Securities Industry News, which also notes that the4 Nasdaq still boasts even faster execution times. All this is good old-fashioned marketing, as all exchanges and executions services are something of a race to the bottom. The NYSE Euronext news is intended to keep up the moment for the exchange's new Universal Trading Platform, which was rolled out on NYSE Arca's cash market in early November. The rollout will continue through mid-January 2010 in other markets. 

For more:
- here's the release

Related Articles:
Low latency exchange race is on
Low latency still a necessary investment
New method to measure latency