Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS), Facebook Inc (FB): Is NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NDAQ) Destined for Greatness?

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Last week, NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) suffered a major technical breakdown in its trading systems that halted all Nasdaq-based trading, leaving the stock exchange in oblivion for almost three hours. My Foolish colleague Alex Dumortier notes that Nasdaq has been rather problem-plagued lately; Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)‘ trading systems sent erroneous orders to various exchanges, costing Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) roughly $100 million in losses. The SEC now plans to fine Nasdaq for its system malfunction, which might just be adding insult to injury at this point. It wouldn’t be the first regulatory smackdown for Nasdaq this year — the SEC also pushed the exchange operator to pay afflicted firms $62 million as a result of its disastrous handling of last year’s Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) block-busted IPO. Fool contributor Tim Brugger notes that the SEC has extracted a $10 million fine from Nasdaq for this debacle on top of the mandated restitution.

In other recent news, BATS Global Markets and Direct Edge Holdings have agreed to merge, which will create the second-largest stock exchange by volume, surpassing the Nasdaq, which has been a perennial silver medalist. BATS has had its own problems, but this new competitor might draw off some of Nasdaq’s precious volume as companies seek out more secure (relatively speaking) alternatives for trading and launching IPOs.

Putting the pieces together

Today, Nasdaq has some of the qualities that make up a great stock, but no stock is truly perfect. Digging deeper can help you uncover the answers you need to make a great buy — or to stay away from a stock that’s going nowhere.

The article Is NASDAQ OMX Destined for Greatness? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.

Fool contributor Alex Planes has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Facebook and Goldman Sachs. The Motley Fool owns shares of Facebook.

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