The start of trading marks ISE's entry into the equities market and leverages ISE's core strengths of technology and customer service to deliver an innovative equity execution alternative to investors. All approved users of the ISE Stock Exchange will have access to the MidPoint Match platform.

David Krell, ISE's President and Chief Executive Officer, said "The unique design of MidPoint Match fills a need in the marketplace for continuous price improvement, and we are confident that investors will benefit not only from the trading flexibility offered by MidPoint Match but also from the advantages delivered by its exchange-based structure. Today truly marks a milestone for ISE as we launch trading in a new asset class for members of our exchange on the MidPoint Match platform."

MidPoint Match is a continuous, instantaneous, fully-automated and anonymous platform that executes orders at the midpoint price of the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) throughout the trading day. This unique, patent-pending trading platform will match and execute all round lot orders, large and small, and is especially suited for orders generated by algorithms. MidPoint Match will be followed by an integrated displayed market offering in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approval.

Initial trading will be in the following ten stocks with additional names to be added regularly: Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO); Ford Motor Co. (F); JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU); LSI Logic Corp (LSI); Lucent Technologies Inc (LU); NASDAQ-100 Trust (QQQQ); Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q); RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD); Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW); and Semiconductor HOLDRs Trust (SMH).