NEW YORK, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pink OTC Markets Inc. (Pink Sheets: PINK), which operates the leading inter-dealer quotation system in the Over-the-Counter (OTC) market, today announced 2009 trading results and marketplace trends. Pink OTC Markets upgraded its trading and quotation systems in 2009 to accommodate the growth in OTC trading activity and to continue to provide its broker-dealer customers the best platform for trading OTC stocks.  Quotations on Pink OTC Markets' system grew by 15% in 2009, attributable to both an overall increase in foreign stocks traded in the U.S. and to broker-dealers choosing to publish more priced quotations in Pink Quote™ to take advantage of the only market-wide quotation and trading platform for OTC securities.  

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Pink OTC Markets continues to see strong growth in its OTCQX® Marketplace and industry adoption of the Pink Sheets® disclosure tiers. The OTCQX tier reached $550 billion in market capitalization in 2009.  It grew by 63% as 30 new companies, including global leaders such as Allianz SE, Gazprom Neft, JBS S.A., Craftmade International Inc., Sangold Corp, and Peugeot S.A., began trading on this premier tier of the U.S. OTC marketplace.  

The global growth and trading performance of the OTCQX tier, the industry acceptance of Pink Sheets' disclosure categories, and the increasing number of broker-dealers choosing the Pink Quote platform as their inter-dealer quotation system of choice for all their OTC quotation activity, are the result of Pink OTC Markets' continued investment in its technology platform and leadership as the financial information provider for the OTC market. 

Liquidity follows transparency.  Over 92% of all dollar volume traded in OTCQX, OTCBB, and Pink Sheets securities in 2009 was in companies that provided current disclosure to the public markets, either through a regulator or directly to Pink OTC Markets.

    
    
    
    OTC                 # of Securities    % Total 2009    Avg. 2009 $ Volume
    Market Tier         at Dec. 31, 2009   Dollar Volume         Per Security
    -----------         ----------------   -------------         ------------
    
    OTCQX                             78            9.5%         $131,448,901
    OTCBB on Pink Quote            3,321           15.1%           $4,935,986
    OTCBB Only                        69            0.2%           $2,883,275
    Pink Sheets Current
     Information                   1,695           67.6%          $43,282,661
    Pink Sheets Limited
     Information                     739            5.6%           $8,198,443
    Pink Sheets No
     Information                   3,445            2.4%             $743,063
    

In 2009, OTCQX was the leader by average dollar volume per security among alternative or entry level markets, demonstrating strong demand for trusted companies among U.S. investors:

    
    
    
                   # of Securities           2009         Avg. $ Volume
    Market Tier    at Dec. 31, 2009      Dollar Volume     Per Security
    -----------    ----------------      -------------     ------------
    
    OTCQX                        78    $10,253,014,306     $131,448,901
    LSE AIM                   1,293    $53,623,863,165      $41,472,439
    Pink Sheets               5,879    $81,982,612,533      $13,944,993
    TSX Venture               2,375    $15,334,615,907       $6,456,680
    OTCBB                     3,390    $16,591,354,365       $4,894,205
    

Over 160 broker-dealers access Pink Link®, Pink OTC Markets' electronic messaging system, to send, execute, negotiate, or decline orders in OTCQX, Pink Sheets, and OTCBB securities.  In 2009, broker-dealers communicated 35% of all OTCBB trades via Pink Link.

Top 25 broker-dealers in 2009 by Pink Link volumes:

    
    
    Firm Name                        Share Volume          Dollar Volume
    ---------                        ------------          -------------
    
    Knight Equity Markets, LP        342,569,949,272      $8,991,471,641
    Archipelago Trading Services
     Inc.                             10,864,101,143      $8,983,755,511
    Jane Street Markets, LLC             366,810,773      $6,282,823,082
    Automated Trading Desk Fincl
     Svcs                             84,233,698,610      $4,750,325,885
    UBS Securities, LLC               84,659,502,599      $4,444,186,052
    E*Trade Capital Markets, LLC
     IMM                             162,616,565,628      $3,761,520,503
    Intl Trading, Inc.                   282,504,907      $3,416,284,350
    Domestic Securities, Inc.         85,629,635,404      $2,729,396,768
    Natixis Bleichroeder, Inc         21,909,430,577      $2,425,732,347
    Merrill Lynch, Pierce, FS            203,842,125      $2,243,656,317
    Hudson Securities, Inc            58,750,052,549      $2,221,175,375
    Pershing Trading Company          17,945,525,490      $1,681,411,584
    StockCross Financial Services      2,261,670,038        $971,090,679
    Citigroup Global Markets Inc.        816,797,163        $823,347,508
    BTIG LLC                           1,105,190,863        $770,304,279
    GFI Securities LLC                    41,752,553        $708,213,100
    Vandham Securities Corp.          10,651,951,956        $634,771,377
    Collins Stewart Inc.                 690,196,294        $632,181,618
    Maxim Group LLC                    7,513,892,563        $613,518,320
    The Vertical Group Inc.           66,109,124,586        $593,615,153
    Lighthouse Financial Group LLC    11,132,919,353        $487,900,675
    LaBranche Financial Services,
     Inc.                              2,655,037,122        $442,082,874
    Ticonderoga Securities LLC           400,623,736        $427,043,631
    Pali Capital Inc                   1,943,165,815        $384,098,234
    Noble International Inc.           7,379,916,305        $370,847,131
    

All broker-dealers using Pink OTC Markets' quotation and trading services are regulated by FINRA for their quotations, trade reporting, and best execution of customer orders.

E*Trade, Fidelity, Scottrade, TD Ameritrade, and other online broker-dealers provide real-time Pink OTC Markets' quotation information to their customers for point and click trading.  Real-time market data for professional traders is available from Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters and other leading market data providers.

More broker-dealers are choosing the superior performance and functionality of the Pink Quote inter-dealer quotation system over FINRA's OTCBB™ for publishing priced quotes in OTC securities:

    
    
    
    Year Ended         Pink Quote        OTCBB
    December 31        Quotations     Quotations
    -----------        ----------     ----------
    
    2009                   47,004         16,002
    2008                   41,289         26,670
    2007                   34,171         37,171
    

*There were a total of 81,786 priced and un-priced quotations on Pink Quote and 23,129 on the FINRA OTCBB in December 2009.

About Pink OTC Markets Inc.

Pink OTC Markets Inc. (Pink Sheets: PINK) is a financial information and technology services company that operates the leading electronic quotation and trading system in the Over-the-Counter, or OTC, securities market. The OTCQX and Pink Sheets marketplaces that we operate constitute, by dollar volume, the third largest U.S. liquidity pool for trading public company shares, after The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. and The New York Stock Exchange.  Our technology platform provides a comprehensive suite of information products and trading services for OTC market participants.  Our products and services promote market transparency, improve price discovery, facilitate regulatory compliance, and increase the quality of issuer disclosure, to the benefit of all OTC market participants. To learn more about how Pink OTC Markets' products and services make OTC markets more transparent, informed, and efficient, please visit our websites at www.pinkotc.com, www.pinksheets.com and www.otcqx.com or contact us at info@pinkotc.com.  

About OTCQX

The OTCQX Marketplace is the premier tier of the U.S. Over-the-Counter Market.  Investor-focused companies use the quality controlled OTCQX listing platform to offer investors transparent trading, superior information, and easy access through their regulated U.S. broker-dealers.  The innovative OTCQX platform offers companies and their shareholders a level of marketplace services formerly available only on a U.S. exchange.  For more information and to see a full list of OTCQX listed companies, visit www.otcqx.com.

SOURCE Pink OTC Markets Inc.

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