Trading in fractionalized minimum increments of sixteenths currently is mandated by the government. The practice squelches brokerage competition and fattens profits at the expense of investors. If we can't achieve full conversion to decimals, we should convert as much of the markets as possible as soon as possible.
Every race needs a pacesetter to get the others off the starting line.
The authors of the letters commend NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso for the New York's leadership and readiness for decimal trading. They call for New York to trade in decimals by Labor Day of this year. A 1998 conversion date was negotiated with all parties after Oxley's bipartisan Common Cents Stock Pricing Act was passed by the Finance Subcommittee. Y2K concerns further pushed the date to January 2000, then to July 3, 2000. The United States remains the only industrialized nation that still trades in fractions.