Nasdaq Slashes Price for Level 2 Quotes
By Victoria Sayasone

The Nasdaq Stock Market said this week it would reduce its fee for Nasdaq Level 2 quotes by 80 percent to $10 a month for individual investors under a one-year pilot program.

The current cost for the Nasdaq Quotation Dissemination Service for professional and non-professional users is $50 per month.

The NQDS, often referred to as Nasdaq Level 2, provides subscribers with real-time quotation information from all market makers and electronic communication networks (ECNs) in each Nasdaq security.

Using the NQDS, investors can see the depth of market participation and the source of the best prices.

"By slashing the cost for individual investors and other nonprofessionals to access Nasdaq market data to just $10 per month, we continue our ongoing effort to provide investors with the most information possible at the lowest price," said Nasdaq's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank G. Zarb in a statement.

The price cut was approved by the NASD Board of Governors and will take effect upon approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Nasdaq lists almost 5,000 companies and trades the most shares per day of any of the U.S. markets.