
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 20, 1995                   TAG: 9505220028
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Short

SEC APPROVES LIMIT-ORDER RULE FOR NASDAQ

New rules aimed at improving protections for certain customer orders on the Nasdaq stock market won approval Friday from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

At issue is the practice of brokers trading ahead of a customer's limit order, which can give a dealer an unfair advantage in knowing the likely direction of a stock's price.

Many market experts say the practice unfairly puts the dealer's interests ahead of the customer's. A limit order is a customer's request to buy or sell a security at a specific price or a better price.

The SEC's action prevents market makers, brokers who form the backbone of Nasdaq by buying and selling stocks from their own accounts, from trading ahead of any customer limit orders. The latest rule closes a significant loophole in an earlier rule by applying to orders sent from other brokers.

The market and its major brokers are under an intensive Justice Department investigation into possible collusion and price fixing, charges which the market denies.

by CNB