TEXT OF STORY

Scott Jagow: Stock traders face new regulations today from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The rules are supposed to level the trading field, but of course, somebody usually loses in these situations. Marketplace’s Janet Babin reports from North Carolina Public Radio.

Janet Babin: The new rules are known as Regulation National Market System, or Reg NMS. They’re designed to make sure that no matter how big or small your stock trade, you’ll get the best price available.

Kevin Callahan with Jones Trading says Reg NMS will help small investors better compete with the big institutional ones. But, he says, it could have a negative effect on smaller broker dealers.

Kevin Callahan: There’s a lot of cost of complying with the regulations, and you want to make sure you have all the proper technology and procedures in place to be able to deal with it, and I think some of the smaller broker dealers may struggle with that.

Callahan says some brokers are worried that the new rules will strain the system and cause trading delays today. He also worries that regulations could eventually drive share prices higher.

Reg NMS takes effect for 250 stocks today, with full implementation expected by mid-August.

I’m Janet Babin for Marketplace.