Faith + Reason = Truth

For those of you who read my post on MySpace Japan and what their strategy SHOULD have been, you're already familiar with my line of thinking.  And so, quite possibly, is the NYSE.  Rather than going in to new markets and trying to start up a competitor from scratch, they go in and partner with an existing player.  There are all kinds of benefits to this type of arrangement, and it's often the only way to go if you're serious about cracking a new market.
With trading though, it raises an interesting question (and not for the first time):  how much longer is it until we are in a 24-hour trading environment?  With the Euronext-NYSE combination, and the possible follow-up of NASDAQ acuiring the London Stock Exchange, it may not be long before the foreign listing requirements at the various exchanges come under pressure and barriers begin to fall.  The trading day may then begin several hours earlier when the European markets currently open, and all that would be left would be the Asian markets mergers/acquisitions.  I couldn't see the Nikkei agreeing to be acquired, but equal partnership would seem to be a real possibility.   Like it or not, it's only a matter of time... .