by John Border

The NASDAQ though we know it as an exchange is not an exchange, and works like an automated mechanism where buyers and sellers can meet. The NYSE works on the system called double auctions where in the highest bidding buyer competes with other buyers and the lowest bidding seller bids against other sellers.NASDAQ though not very old has give tough competition to NYSE.The technology focus has helped NASDAQ some inherent strengths.

In NASDAQ much like in the real world each broker or the dealer as you may want to call it has an inventory of shares which they are willing to sell and that means that they can easily assume that their inventory along with other broker’s inventory will be taken care of. In effect each order if fulfilled based on how much inventory or shares you are holding.

As an example I will show how …

Assurant Inc.'s (AIZ) core 2Q08 results were a nickel below our expectation. Based on diversified product and distribution platform and technology focus, AIZ has delivered solid operating earnings over the last five years.

However, continued dependence on third-party reinsurance and significant growth in specialty property exposes the group's earnings to a greater degree of variability over the near term. Therefore, we elect to keep our rating of the shares of this company as a Hold.

Following our review of AIZ's 2Q08 results we are decreasing our FY08 earnings expectation to $6.50 per share from $6.55 per share and our FY09 earnings expectation to $6.85 per share from $6.90 per share previously. The shares of Assurant currently trade at a multiple of 1.57x book value, excluding AOCI, of $36.68 per share for 2Q08 and 1.62x the $35.53 book value per share.

Based on general earnings trends, negligible catastrophe losses, we think the