SECURITIES

SEC Approves Nasdaq Improvements: The rules are aimed at making the stock market a fairer place for individual investors. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt Jr. said the rules could “change the way trading is conducted in the Nasdaq market.” One rule would prevent stockbrokers from trading ahead of a customer’s order, a practice banned by the other major stock exchanges. The commission also approved a pilot project aimed at eliminating manipulation of stocks through the Wall Street practice known as short selling. Nasdaq’s trading volume rose 37% to a record 66.5 billion trades last year, making it the nation’s second-largest market behind the NYSE.