Cisco Systems Opens NASDAQ Stock Market

In 34 years of existence, The NASDAQ Stock Market has opened its 8,684 trading days in a familiar fashion. Guests such as the President of Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, tennis player Serena Williams, comedian Jimmy Fallon, Treasury Secretary Snow, even Donald Trump and his "Apprentice," to name a few, have rung the opening bell from NASDAQ's MarketSite studio in New York's Time Square to mark the beginning of the trading day.

From 2,500 miles away with a three-hour time difference, Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers and 2,000 Cisco employees will "virtually" open The NASDAQ Stock Market from the company's San Jose, Calif. headquarters, marking the first time in NASDAQ history the ringing of the celebratory bell has occurred outside of the Big Apple.

Together, Cisco (www.cisco.com) and NASDAQ have re-created the MarketSite including a replica blue video wall and electronic podium to mirror the NASDAQ opening and closing bell ceremonies. Using a high-speed, dual-path and highly-secure private IP network, data is routed from NASDAQ's New York MarketSite to Cisco's Silicon Valley virtual MarketSite, where display servers process and format real-time ticker and price quote information.

Cisco's Chambers, joined by his employees and NASDAQ president and CEO, Bob Greifeld, will 'ring the NASDAQ bell' from San Jose at 6:30 a.m. PDT signifying the opening of trading for the day and in celebration of the close of Cisco's 20th anniversary year. The virtual open event caps off a year of commemoration marking Cisco's 20-year history of giving back to the community, technology innovation and industry leadership.

"We are excited to partner with NASDAQ to create the first-ever virtual open of the NASDAQ market site and to mark the culmination of our celebration of 20 years of Cisco innovation," said John Chambers, president and CEO, Cisco Systems. "The NASDAQ virtual open is a prime example of how the network and Cisco technology can enhance business productivity—in this case bringing millions of investors together with leading companies regardless of time or physical location of the market."

"As the first virtual stock market, NASDAQ has promoted the tenets of decentralization, openness and the use of technology to provide investors with the tools and services needed in a competitive trading environment," said Bob Greifeld, president and CEO, The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc.

NASDAQ by design is a decentralized electronic market that can be opened anywhere. On average, the NASDAQ processes approximately 20,000 stock market transactions per second and nearly 12 million trades per day. The market open and market close are the busiest times in the trading day, in which NASDAQ's systems handle transaction peaks in excess of 20,000 transactions per second.