NYSE An odd case for buying Euronext

Why is NYSE Group buying Euronext? If you listen to what top executives at the US exchange are saying, even they seem to have trouble figuring it out. Look at what NYSE boss John Thain has said this week. First he observed in a newspaper interview that European exchanges - excluding London - aren’t competitive globally. The reason? Europe’s a backwater. While that has the ring of truth, it’s still a pretty odd statement from someone who is bidding E 6.7bn ($9.7bn) to take control of one. Then ...