Tokyo Stock Exchange Avoiding Shutdown

In an effort to avoid shutting down, the Tokyo Stock Exchange has shortened its trading day by 30 minutes and is asking investors to reduce their orders. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the world's second-largest stock market.

Professor Neil Katkov, head of research in Asia for Celent LLC, a Boston-based financial technology consulting firm, says "the exchange's decision to issue an advance warning that it might shut down trading was counterproductive to say the least, as it triggered even more frenzied selling by panicked investors. It is becoming clearer by the day that Japan's securities industry infrastructure is just not equipped to handle the overheated market conditions of recent months."

President Taizo Nishimuro said that the exchange wants to reduce the number of orders by 1.5 million a day and transactions by as much as 1 million a day. He said that if orders and transactions can remain at a lower level, regular trading hours will resume.