founded in 1790 as the first organized stock exchange in the United States, PHLX trades more than 2,000 stocks, 1,703 equity options, 26 proprietary industry sectors index options, a group of Exchange-Traded Funds, and currency options and currency futures on its Philadelphia Board of Trade (PBOT) subsidiary. Equity trading is conducted through floor brokers or the electronic order entry and execution system called PACE (Philadelphia Automated Communication and Execution System). In 2005, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange became the first floor-based exchange to trade all of its options and sector indexes electronically using PHLX XL, the exchange's electronic trading platform, the PHLX XL platform allows for market makers to enter quotes and trade from remote locations. In the Sector Index Option marketplace, the PHLX features many widely quoted and recognized industry benchmarks including the PHLX's Gold/Silver Sector (XAU), PHLX's Oil Service Sector (OSX), Semiconductor Sector (SOX), PHLX/KBW Bank Index (BKX) Housing Sector (HGX), and Utility Sector (UTY).
In 2004, the exchange demutualized and is now a share-based corporation. In 1982, PHLX was the first exchange to trade options on currencies and was the first U.S. securities exchange to open international offices in overseas money centers. The PHLX pioneered evening trading in 1987 and 24-hour trading for currencies in 1990. Trading hours for equities are 9:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. with a post-primary session from 4 P.M. to 4:15 P.M. Equity options: 9:30 A.M. to 4:02 P.M. Index options: 9:30 A.M. to 4:02 P.M. (Narrow-based); 9:30 A.M. to 4:15 P.M. (Broad-based). Currency options: 2:30 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. www.phlx.com.
