(August 22 – 16:40 ET) – Wall Street is making its final preparations the start of decimal trading, which is due to begin Monday August 28.

At the opening of trading on Monday, seven New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks and six AMEX stocks and their related options will begin trading in decimals rather than fractions. The NYSE stocks are: Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Forest City Enterprises Class A and B, FedEx Corp., Gateway Inc., Hughes Supply Inc. and MSC.Software Corp. The AMEX issues are: Regal Beloit Corp., Media General Inc., ON2.com Inc., eMagin Corp., Psychemedics Corp., and Global Light Telecommunications Inc.

Another 50 to 100 exchange-listed equity issues and their associated options are scheduled to convert to decimals on September 25. Nasdaq won’t start trading in decimals until March 12, 2001. The industry plan calls for full implementation of decimal pricing by April 9, 2001.

The SIA has been working on this since July 1998, when it began developing an implementation plan and working to coordinate a smooth transition. “The exchanges have monitored participation in their tests,” said John Panchery, SIA vice president and decimalization project manager. “Based on the information presented at the last Exchange Committee meeting, we fully expect the initial phase to go smoothly.”