[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59292-59294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27499]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-60965; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2009-097]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change, 
as Modified by Amendment No.1, to Add Seventy-Five Options Classes to 
the Penny Pilot Program

November 9, 2009.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on October 28, 2009, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (``Nasdaq'') filed 
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or ``Commission'') 
the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II and III below, 
which Items have been prepared by Nasdaq. Nasdaq filed Amendment No. 1 
to the proposal on November 5, 2009.\3\ The Commission is publishing 
this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from 
interested persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ In Amendment No. 1, Nasdaq proposed to correct a technical 
error in Section III. The change has no effect on the substance of 
the proposed rule change.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    Nasdaq is filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``SEC'' or ``Commission'') a proposal for the NASDAQ Options Market 
(``NOM'' or ``Exchange'') to designate seventy-five options classes to 
be added to the Penny Pilot in options classes in certain issues 
(``Penny Pilot'' or ``Pilot'') on November 2, 2009.\4\ The Exchange is 
not proposing to amend any rule text, but simply administering or 
enforcing an existing rule.\5\
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    \4\ The Penny Pilot was established in March 2008 and in October 
2009 was expanded and extended through December 31, 2010. See 
Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 57579 (March 28, 2008), 73 FR 
18587 (April 4, 2008) (SR-NASDAQ-2008-026) (notice of filing and 
immediate effectiveness establishing Penny Pilot); and 60874 
(October 23, 2009) (SR-NASDAQ-2009-091) (notice of filing and 
immediate effectiveness expanding and extending Penny Pilot).
    \5\ See Chapter VI, Section 5 regarding the Penny Pilot.
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    The text of the proposed rule change is available from Nasdaq's Web 
site at http://nasdaq.cchwallstreet.com, at Nasdaq's principal office, 
and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

    In its filing with the Commission, Nasdaq included statements 
concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and 
discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The 
text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in 
Item IV below. Nasdaq has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, 
B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such statements.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The purpose of this filing is to identify the next seventy-five 
options classes to be added to the Penny Pilot effective November 2, 
2009.
    In the Exchange's immediately effective filing to extend and expand 
the Penny Pilot through December 31, 2010,\6\ the Exchange proposed 
expanding the Pilot four times on a

[[Page 59293]]

quarterly basis. Each such quarterly expansion would be of the next 
seventy-five most actively traded multiply listed options classes based 
on the national average daily volume (``ADV'') for the six months prior 
to selection, closing under $200 per share on the Expiration Friday 
prior to expansion; however, the month immediately preceding the 
addition of options to the Penny Pilot will not be used for the purpose 
of the six month analysis. Index option products would be included in 
the quarterly expansions if the underlying index levels were under 200.
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    \6\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 60874 (October 23, 
2009) (SR-NASDAQ-2009-091) (notice of filing and immediate 
effectiveness).
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    The Exchange is identifying, in the chart below, seventy-five 
options classes that it will add to the Penny Pilot on November 2, 
2009, based on ADVs from April 1, 2009, through September 30, 2009.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Nat'l ranking                Symbol            Company name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
118...........................  ABX..............  Barrick Gold Corp
48............................  AXP..............  American Express Co
134...........................  AUY..............  Yamana Gold Inc
93............................  BA...............  Boeing Co/The
115...........................  BBT..............  BB&T Corp
111...........................  BBY..............  Best Buy Co Inc
94............................  BP...............  BP PLC
67............................  CHK..............  Chesapeake Energy
                                                    Corp
58............................  CIT..............  CIT Group Inc
78............................  COF..............  Capital One Financial
                                                    Corp
68............................  CVX..............  Chevron Corp
130...........................  DE...............  Deere & Co
104...........................  DOW..............  Dow Chemical Co/The
49............................  DRYS.............  DryShips Inc
88............................  EFA..............  iShares MSCI EAFE
                                                    Index Fund
64............................  ETFC.............  E*Trade Financial
                                                    Corp
32............................  EWZ..............  iShares MSCI Brazil
                                                    Index Fund
25............................  FAS..............  Direxion Daily
                                                    Financial Bull 3X
                                                    Shares
33............................  FAZ..............  Direxion Daily
                                                    Financial Bear 3X
                                                    Shares
112...........................  FITB.............  Fifth Third Bancorp
70............................  FSLR.............  First Solar Inc
26............................  FXI..............  iShares FTSE/Xinhua
                                                    China 25 Index Fund
82............................  GDX..............  Market Vectors--Gold
                                                    Miners ETF
127...........................  GG...............  Goldcorp Inc
18............................  GLD..............  SPDR Gold Trust
129...........................  HGSI.............  Human Genome Sciences
                                                    Inc
62............................  HIG..............  Hartford Financial
                                                    Services Group Inc
72............................  HPQ..............  Hewlett-Packard Co
59............................  IBM..............  International
                                                    Business Machines
                                                    Corp
45............................  IYR..............  iShares Dow Jones US
                                                    Real Estate Index
                                                    Fund
105...........................  JNJ..............  Johnson & Johnson
131...........................  JNPR.............  Juniper Networks Inc
98............................  KO...............  Coca-Cola Co/The
39............................  LVS..............  Las Vegas Sands Corp
87............................  MCD..............  McDonald's Corp
71............................  MGM..............  MGM Mirage
113...........................  MON..............  Monsanto Co
63............................  MOS..............  Mosaic Co/The
120...........................  MRK..............  Merck & Co Inc/NJ
35............................  MS...............  Morgan Stanley
73............................  NLY..............  Annaly Capital
                                                    Management Inc
99............................  NOK..............  Nokia OYJ
121...........................  NVDA.............  Nvidia Corp
80............................  ORCL.............  Oracle Corp
61............................  PALM.............  Palm Inc
37............................  PBR..............  Petroleo Brasileiro
                                                    SA
85............................  PG...............  Procter & Gamble Co/
                                                    The
41............................  POT..............  Potash Corp of
                                                    Saskatchewan Inc
74............................  RF...............  Regions Financial
                                                    Corp
124...........................  RIG..............  Transocean Ltd
132...........................  RMBS.............  Rambus Inc
103...........................  S................  Sprint Nextel Corp
83............................  SDS..............  ProShares UltraShort
                                                    S&P500
122...........................  SKF..............  ProShares UltraShort
                                                    Financials
107...........................  SLB..............  Schlumberger Ltd
91............................  SLV..............  iShares Silver Trust
84............................  SRS..............  ProShares UltraShort
                                                    Real Estate
119...........................  SSO..............  ProShares Ultra
                                                    S&P500
101...........................  STI..............  SunTrust Banks Inc
125...........................  SVNT.............  Savient
                                                    Pharmaceuticals Inc
92............................  TBT..............  ProShares UltraShort
                                                    20+ Year Treasury
14............................  UNG..............  United States Natural
                                                    Gas Fund LP
117...........................  UNH..............  UnitedHealth Group
                                                    Inc
110...........................  UPS..............  United Parcel Service
                                                    Inc

[[Page 59294]]

 
81............................  USB..............  US Bancorp
44............................  USO..............  United States Oil
                                                    Fund LP
60............................  UYG..............  ProShares Ultra
                                                    Financials
96............................  V................  Visa Inc
10............................  WFC..............  Wells Fargo & Co
133...........................  WYNN.............  Wynn Resorts Ltd
52............................  X................  United States Steel
                                                    Corp
114...........................  XHB..............  SPDR S&P Homebuilders
                                                    ETF
86............................  XLI..............  Industrial Select
                                                    Sector SPDR Fund
79............................  XLU..............  Utilities Select
                                                    Sector SPDR Fund
54............................  XRT..............  SPDR S&P Retail ETF
------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section 
6(b) of the Act \7\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 
6(b)(5) of the Act \8\ in particular, in that it is designed to prevent 
fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and 
equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation and coordination 
with persons engaged in facilitating transactions in securities, and to 
remove impediments to and perfect the mechanisms of a free and open 
market and a national market system, by identifying the options classes 
to be added to the Penny Pilot in a manner consistent with prior 
approvals and filings.
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    Nasdaq does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose 
any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants or Others

    Written comments were neither solicited nor received.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 
Commission Action

    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(i) of the Act \9\ and Rule 19b-
4(f)(1) thereunder,\10\ NASDAQ has designated this proposal as one 
constituting a stated policy, practice, or interpretation with respect 
to the meaning, administration, or enforcement of an existing rule.
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    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(i).
    \10\ 17 C.F.R. 240.19b-4(f)(1).
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    At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule 
change, the Commission may summarily abrogate such rule change if it 
appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate 
in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or otherwise 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule 
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of 
the following methods:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an e-mail to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-NASDAQ-2009-097 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Elizabeth M. Murphy, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., 
Washington DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NASDAQ-2009-097. This 
file number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. 
To help the Commission process and review your comments more 
efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all 
comments on the Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, 
all written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that 
are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating 
to the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, 
other than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance 
with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for inspection 
and copying in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street, 
NE., Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours 
of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such filing also will be available for 
inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All 
comments received will be posted without change; the Commission does 
not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should 
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All 
submissions should refer to File No. SR-NASDAQ-2009-097 and should be 
submitted on or before December 8, 2009.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
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    \11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-27499 Filed 11-16-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P