At long last, trucking company YRC Worldwide (YRCW) announced that it completed its debt-for-equity swap, wiping out $470 million in debt in the process. The deadline on the exchange was extended numerous times, with the firm attempting to defer payment of $19 million in fees and interest and gain access to $159.8 million in revolver reserves.

As of 11:59 PM Wednesday, a total of 88% of the notes had been tendered, up from 81% the previous day. Thanks to the eleventh-hour success of the debt-for-equity swap, YRCW said it "will be open for business as usual on Monday." Previously, the trucking issue warned that it might face a bankruptcy filing unless it addressed its serious liquidity problems.

The Nasdaq Stock Market announced Thursday that trading volume on ETFs reached a new record in September with an average daily trading volume of 785 million shares. That was part of a new record trading volume of 3.3 billion shares.

IndexUniverse says that ETFs now make up more than one-third of the U.S. market trading volume. They cite data from the National Stock Exchange , which says ETFs represented "a record 35% of all U.S. equity trading volume." That's up from 31% in August. Think about that: more than one-third of stock trades in America are for exchange traded funds.

Trim Tabs just came out with a report showing investors have been pulling money out of stock funds -- but throwing them into ETFs. Trim Tabs estimates investors took well over $40 billion out of all mutual funds in September, but meanwhile put about the same amount into ETFs. For the last 12 months, we've pulled $117 billion out of mutual funds and put $127 billion into ETFs.

For individual investors, the move makes sense. When the market is moving around like it has been, it's scary to be in a vehicle where you can only trade at the end of the day? But I can't imagine that all of that ETF volume isn't helping whip around the prices of the underlying shares.

Are you finding that in these times of volatility you're trading more frequently? Maybe overtrading a bit? Well, you're not alone.

The Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Stock Market's revenues grew 50% in 2007 while its net earnings grew at about half that pace. Nasdaq matched 29.7% of all equity-trading volume.

The WSJ.com reported today [subscription required] that "on Sept. 20, Nasdaq and Borse Dubai settled a long battle for OMX in a deal that would eventually give Borse Dubai a 19.9% stake in Nasdaq."

Nasdaq has a few other catalysts coming up:

1. Securities and Exchange Commission approval on its exchange application to trade options
2. Completion of its acquisition of the Boston Stock Exchange and the
3. Closing of an acquisition of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange

As we see more and more exchange volume and consolidation of global exchanges, Nasdaq may outperform.

Zack Miller is the Managing Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.

There is a bit of glee circulating on the frozen tundra amid news that the Canadian dollar has hit the equivalence of 92.34 American cents, its highest point in 30 years. TD Securities Inc. chief currency strategist Shaun Osborne states that it is possible that the Canadian dollar could reach a value of .96 cents by June. Analysts agree that if commodity prices continue to rise, there stands a good chance that the two currencies would equalize. I say if that point is reached the two currencies should be immediately put into lockstep and our fluctuating currency exchange on our northern border should end forever. Could it be done? Yes, it could. Will it ever happen? Probably it won't.

Personally, I think the benefits would far outweigh the temporary disadvantages. Granted, I expect there would be quite a tussle in the commodities exchange for a time but that's a self adjusting system anyway. NAFTA paved the way for the "free flow" of goods and materials across our borders. Currency equalization would take the teeth out of much of the damage that tilted document has inflicted upon the American economy. I suspect that Canadian manufacturers might get just a little testy about the idea, but I believe that in the long run it would level the playing field for them as well as us. I also think it would give North America a lot more leverage in the world markets.

Economic idealists and world view visionaries already have a name for a singular North American currency. Do a web search for the word "Amero" and you'll spend the rest of your week reading about it. You'll receive every point of view you could ever imagine. Some say it would be the next step to the "One World Government," some say it would be a protectionist move. I say it's the most logical step toward stabilizing two very powerful yet unsteady economies. I see it as a grand statement to the rest of the world that there's still a force to be reckoned with over here pinned between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Then, if we could just annex Mexico...

This morning we had another monumental merger among financial exchanges. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is acquiring the Chicago Board of Trade (BOT) in an $8 billion transaction. That translates to a roughly 15% premium from the close for BOT shares, and if the deal closes in all stock, the CBOT will own 31% of the combined entity.

CME would issue approximately 15.9 million shares if the all stock route is taken. Based on the closing stock prices of CME and CBOT on October 16, 2006, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the merger, the combined company is valued at $25 billion (CME equity $18 billion; CBOT equity $7 billion). The merger will not impact core trading rights or membership or clearing privileges at either exchange.

"We are very pleased to announce this strategic merger today," said CME Chairman Terry Duffy, who will be the chairman of the combined organization. "We now will be able to combine the capabilities and best practices of both organizations -- establishing an even stronger, more competitive position than either could achieve individually."

Duffy may believe this merger benefits consumers and shareholders; however, consolidation in financial exchanges can be horrible for the consumer (exchange clients and traders) because the exchange gets to dictate pricing with essentially no competition and no choices.

Both NASDAQ and NYSE have made changes recently to their level 2 feed and equivalent to third parties that are not good for consumers. Now that they own most of the ECN's they can charge whatever they want to third parties. Calling for a blockage of a merger is never a fun situation to be in, but these mega-exchanges are BAD for (traders/consumers). Mark my words.

Most exchanges stocks are higher on this news today: Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) +5% at $80.90; NASDAQ (NDAQ) +1% at $34.89, and International Securities Exchange (ISE) +3% at $50.23. NYSE (NYX), however, is down .4% at $73.58 as of 12:30 p.m.

Jon Ogg is a partner in 24/7 Wall St.

Usually, the buyer in an M&A transaction has a drop in its stock price. Well, that wasn't the case with Intercontinental Exchange's (ICE) $1 billion purchase of the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT). In fact, ICE's stock surged 10% on the announcement.

Basically, ICE is an electronic exchange for trading on energy products. Despite the recent fall-off in energy prices, the market has been particularly strong for ICE, as the stock has surged almost 80% this year.

So, why not use some of this increased shareholder value to do a deal?

The purchase of the NYBOT will be a move to diversify ICE away from energy. For the most part, NYBOT is an old-school exchange (there is a physical trading floor) that focuses in stuff like sugar, cocoa, and coffee trading.

Also, ICE believes the deal will result in cost synergies of $50 million or so. Something else: ICE is likely to leverage its technology infrastructure into the NYBOT.

Although, according to Wall Street's response, ICE may be too conservative on the benefits of the deal. After all, NYBOT was founded in 1870: there is probably lots of opportunity to modernize things at the exchange.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.