NASDAQ to List Prices Differently

The NASDAQ Small Cap stock listing, which will appear six days a week beginning Tuesday, replaces the NASDAQ Bid and Asked listing.

The stocks are the same, but a new NASDAQ system permits the publication of the last sale price for each issue and the net change for the day. In the past, the latest sale prices were unavailable for these typically very small stocks. Instead, brokers and investors could see only the bid and asked prices.

Last-sale reporting should help narrow the spreads between bid and asked prices on these stocks by showing brokers and investors the actual prices at which the stocks are changing hands.