Van der Moolen Bites The Dust As NYSE Specialist (VDM, NYX)

Van der Moolen (NYSE:VDM) posted another loss today, but we don’t even care about the results after looking at the real news.  Van der Moolen is terminating its operation as a U.S. specialist on the exchange trading floors.  To top it off, the Netherlands-based financial trading firm is going to delist its American depository shares from the New York Stock Exchange.

The company’s European operations are running profitably and the company said it would have been profitable outside of one-time items.

In the press release, it outlines its plans: "Losses in the US operation of Van der Moolen Specialists ("VDMS") continued this quarter. We therefore decided to terminate the Specialist activities of VDMS. We will focus our efforts on our other US activities; brokerage and trading on CBSX. On CBSX, we are active in over 1000 listed stocks of a total of approx. 3000 stocks. We intend to further develop this activity…… In the third quarter of 2007, we have acquired a 100% interest in Robbins & Henderson LLC, a US based institutional broker…. The acquisition of Robbins & Henderson forms a cornerstone in the start of a brokerage division in the US."

The company also sold 40,826 shares of NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) in the quarter.  The company says it will work with the NYSE to secure a smooth transition process.  But you can imagine that any NYSE listed companies which have Van der Moolen as the specialist firm for their stocks are already on the phones securing new specialist agreements.

Jon C. Ogg
November 15, 2007

Jon Ogg produces the 24/7 Wall St. Special Situation Investing Newsletter; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.