In 1992, the AMEX launched the Emerging Company Marketplace (ECM) to trade the stocks of small but growing companies. After listing on the ECM, stocks experienced dramatic decreases in bid-ask spreads, but showed mixed results on price and trading volume. News coverage of the ECM stocks rose...

Many large firms have chosen not to list on the NYSE, despite meeting NYSE listing requirements. Dealer markets such as Nasdaq have higher quoted bid-ask spreads than auction markets like the NYSE. However, these higher spreads give broker-dealers an incentive to market a stock, expanding the...