Pink OTC Markets Launches Real-Time OTC Market Data Suite

NEW YORK, June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pink OTC Markets Inc. (OTCQX: PINK), which operates the OTCQX®, OTCQB™ and Pink Sheets® marketplaces for registered broker-dealers to efficiently trade unlisted stocks, today announces its introduction of Real-Time+, a suite of real-time market data products.  Real-Time+ features the new Real-Time Reference Price product which is available at no cost to leading financial website operators and market data terminal providers to give their users a baseline reference price in real-time.  Real-Time+ offers valuable pricing data for all investors – from the casual investor to the professional trader – and it's all real-time. 

Real-Time+ was created in response to the tremendous growth in the OTC market. Today there are 9,400 OTC quoted securities, a 24% increase since 2003. In 2009, dollar volume reached $108 billion and the total market capitalization of securities quoted on Pink OTC's systems was over $700 billion.  Quote updates have increased tremendously by 230% year over year.

Pink OTC Markets is now the third largest U.S. market by dollar value traded.  Many high quality companies, including large-cap multi-nationals such as Deutsche Telekom AG, AXA, and Roche Holding Ltd, have chosen to list on Pink OTC's quality-controlled OTCQX marketplace. Better quality companies as well as increased information disclosure and price transparency are key factors driving the rise in OTC trading activity.

"Traditional stock exchanges make 15 minute delayed market data available to investors at no cost. Fifteen minutes is too long in today's internet enabled world, so we're introducing market price data that's real-time, all the time, to fit the fast pace of the electronic OTC markets we operate," says R. Cromwell Coulson, President and CEO of Pink OTC Markets Inc.

"Delayed price data is no longer acceptable for investors. They expect the most current OTC market prices when making critical trading and investment decisions. Real-Time+ will provide investors with access to real-time prices for all OTCQX, OTCQB and Pink Sheet securities," Coulson added.

Real-Time+ offers three product lines to fit the diverse needs of all OTC market participants.  Real-Time Reference Price is offered to financial website operators and market data terminal providers to give their users a baseline reference price in real-time. It is available at no cost and with no per user licensing to distributors of Pink OTC's premium market data products.  Level 1+ enhances the typical Best Bid & Ask (BBO) data with Bid, Ask and Aggregate Size for all price levels in real-time.  Level 2+ continues to be the premier market data product for OTC professionals and sophisticated investors.  Both Level 1+ and Level 2+ offer real-time Pink Link® time and sales.  All Real-Time+ products will be offered via multi-cast architecture, which is more reliable and will reduce bandwidth requirements for consumers of OTC market data.  Real-time+ offers faster prices, more data and a more reliable platform with no increase in real-time licensing fees.

Coulson will officially introduce Real-Time+ to the market data community on June 24th at the Software and Information Industry's Financial Information Services Division (SIIA/FISD) General Meeting, hosted by Thomson Reuters in New York.  

For more information on OTC market data products, contact Pink OTC Markets at 212.896.4454 or by email at [email protected].

About Pink OTC Markets Inc.

Pink OTC Markets Inc. (OTCQX: PINK) operates the leading electronic interdealer quotation and trading system for over 9,000 securities not listed on a U.S. stock exchange. Pink OTC Markets segments these securities into three tiers: the quality-controlled OTCQX marketplace, the U.S. registered and reporting OTCQB marketplace, and the speculative trading Pink Sheets marketplace. These three tiers constitute 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 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.otcmarkets.com, www.pinkotc.com and www.otcqx.com or contact us at [email protected].

SOURCE Pink OTC Markets Inc.