“The Nasdaq Stock Market announced that six companies currently trading on the New York Stock Exchange, including Hewlett-Packard Co. and Charles Schwab Corp., plan to also list their stock on the Nasdaq market,” according to a report on today’s Wall Street Journal Online.

“The six companies announced Monday, the first to list on both markets under this program, are Apache Corp., Cadence Design Systems Inc., Charles Schwab, Countrywide Financial Corp., Hewlett-Packard and Walgreens Co.”

“Bob Greifeld, president and chief executive of the Nasdaq market, said in a prepared statement: ‘We believe that through dual listing, these companies will have greater access to the benefits of highly efficient trading in a highly transparent environment.’ “

“Nasdaq’s move comes as the Big Board continues to reel from its corporate governance problems and an investigation into allegedly abusive trading practices on the exchange floor. In an interview late last summer, Mr. Greifeld said he wanted it to take a more aggressive stance in netting new companies, and that he was dividing his stock relationship managers into ‘hunters,’ who would try to get NYSE companies to switch affiliations and ‘farmers,’ who would maintain relations with existing Nasdaq companies.”

“But the dual-listing proposal is a pared-back version of what Mr. Greifeld envisioned. Rather than convincing NYSE-listed companies to abandon the exchange and become Nasdaq-listed stocks, Nasdaq will now begin allowing companies to attach themselves to both markets, without indicating particular loyalty to one or the other.”

“For the past several months, Nasdaq officials have been shopping the idea of joint listings to some big companies, citing greater exposure for their stocks, better technology and pending reform at the NYSE as reasons to list with Nasdaq, according to officials who have been approached. For instance, Nasdaq has told some issuers that they should take the opportunity to become familiar with Nasdaq’s electronic-trading platform since the NYSE may eventually adopt more automated trading as part of its reform plans.”