Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change by the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC to Add Seventy-Five Options Classes to the Penny Pilot Program

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Federal RegisterMay 10, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 25895 (May. 10, 2010)
May 4, 2010.

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) , and Rule 19b-4 thereunder, notice is hereby given that on April 27, 2010, 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. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.

17 CFR 240.19b-4.

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 Program (“Penny Pilot” or “Pilot”) on May 3, 2010. The Exchange is not proposing to amend any rule text, but simply administering or enforcing an existing rule.

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); 60874 (October 23, 2009), 74 FR 56682 (November 2, 2009)(SR-NASDAQ-2009-091)(notice of filing and immediate effectiveness expanding and extending Penny Pilot); 60965 (November 9, 2009), 74 FR 59292 (November 17, 2009)(SR-NASDAQ-2009-097)(notice of filing and immediate effectiveness adding seventy-five classes to Penny Pilot); and 61455 (February 1, 2010), 75 FR 6239 (February 8, 2010)(SR-NASDAQ-2010-013)(notice of filing and immediate effectiveness adding seventy-five classes to Penny Pilot).

See Chapter VI, Section 5 regarding the Penny Pilot.

The text of the proposed rule change is available from Nasdaq's website at http://nasdaq.cchwallstreet.com/Filings/,, 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 May 3, 2010.

In the Exchange's immediately effective filing to extend and expand the Penny Pilot through December 31, 2010, the Exchange proposed expanding the Pilot four times on a 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.

See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 60874 (October 23, 2009), 74 FR 56682 (November 2, 2009) (SR-NASDAQ-2009-091) (notice of filing and immediate effectiveness).

The Exchange is identifying, in the chart below, seventy-five options classes that it will add to the Penny Pilot on May 3, 2010, based on ADVs for the six months ending March 31, 2010.

Nat'l ranking Symbol Security name Nat'l ranking Symbol Security name
153 XLV Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund 247 JCP JC Penney Co Inc.
155 CIEN Ciena Corp 248 ACL Alcon Inc.
157 AMLN Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc 249 STP Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd.
158 CTIC Cell Therapeutics Inc 250 TLB Talbots Inc.
159 MDT Medtronic Inc 251 SYMC Symantec Corp.
162 TIVO TiVo Inc 253 AMED Amedisys Inc.
163 MNKD MannKind Corp 255 TM Toyota Motor Corp.
171 MDVN Medivation Inc 257 HK Petrohawk Energy Corp.
176 BRKB Berkshire Hathaway Inc 258 ENER Energy Conversion Devices Inc.
178 APOL Apollo Group Inc 259 STT State Street Corp.
181 BSX Boston Scientific Corp 260 BHP BHP Billiton Ltd.
185 XLY Consumer Discretionary Sel. Sec. SPDR Fund 261 NFLX NetFlix Inc.
188 CLF Cliffs Natural Resources Inc 262 LDK LDK Solar Co Ltd.
190 ZION Zions Bancorporation 263 SPG Simon Property Group Inc.
194 IOC InterOil Corp 264 TIF Tiffany & Co.
197 ITMN InterMune Inc 265 BUCY Bucyrus International Inc.
204 GME GameStop Corp 266 WAG Walgreen Co.
209 XLK Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund 268 IP International Paper Co.
210 AKS AK Steel Holding Corp 271 XME SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF.
212 GRMN Garmin Ltd 272 KGC Kinross Gold Corp.
213 MRVL Marvell Technology Group Ltd 273 EP El Paso Corp.
215 XLP Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund 274 SEED Origin Agritech Ltd.
216 UNP Union Pacific Corp 275 WIN Windstream Corp.
220 DTV DIRECTV 279 DHI DR Horton Inc.
223 WMB Williams Cos Inc./The 280 ADBE Adobe Systems Inc.
225 MEE Massey Energy Co 281 PCX Patriot Coal Corp.
227 CELG Celgene Corp 282 SPWRA SunPower Corp.
229 GMCR Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc 284 LCC US Airways Group Inc.
231 WDC Western Digital Corp 285 PRU Prudential Financial Inc.
234 DAL Delta Air Lines Inc 286 LEN Lennar Corp.
235 FXE CurrencyShares Euro Trust 287 EWT iShares MSCI Taiwan Index Fund.
237 COST Costco Wholesale Corp 288 KBH KB Home.
239 MJN Mead Johnson Nutrition Co 289 CREE Cree Inc.
240 ALL Allstate Corp/The 290 SIRI Sirius XM Radio Inc.
241 SII Smith International Inc 291 MMR McMoRan Exploration Co.
242 RTN Raytheon Co 292 CENX Century Aluminum Co.
243 DVN Devon Energy Corp 293 GFI Gold Fields Ltd.
244 MT ArcelorMittal

2. Statutory Basis

The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act 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.

15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

Nasdaq does not believe that the proposed rule change will result in 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 and Rule 19b-4(f)(1) thereunder, 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.

17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(1).

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 rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include File Number SR-NASDAQ-2010-053 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-2010-053. 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 Web site viewing and printing 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 Nasdaq. 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 Number SR-NASDAQ-2010-053 and should be submitted on or before June 1, 2010.

For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.

Florence E. Harmon,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 2010-10965 Filed 5-7-10; 8:45 am]

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