Amex Losing iShares Listings

In a major blow to the struggling American Stock Exchange, Barclays Global Investors said it would shift the primary listings of its 81 iShares exchange-traded funds to the New York Stock Exchange.

BGI says 61 ETFs will move to the NYSE, while 19 iShares Funds and one grantor trust will jump to the NYSE's planned merger partner, Archipelago. The move is expected to take place in several phases concluding in 2007.

No action is needed by current shareholders. ETFs are index funds whose shares may be bought and sold like common stocks on securities exchanges. The Amex has increasingly focused on attracting listings like the iShares since its primary stock-listing business was sharply eroded by the Nasdaq. Late last year the Amex lost its popular Nasdaq 100 trust listing, which was then known as the QQQ and is now called the QQQQ after its Nasdaq symbol. ...