Shares for less than a dollar

This is a telling indicator about how bad things are in equity markets. The NYSE is about to relax its requirement that shares must trade for at least a dollar.

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- NYSE Euronext may temporarily ease a requirement for New York Stock Exchange companies to maintain a share price of more than a $1 to prevent a wave of delistings after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell to a 12-year low.

“This is something we are considering given the current market conditions,” Richard Adamonis, a spokesman for NYSE Euronext, said in an interview today.

The Big Board already suspended until April the minimum market value that a company must have to keep its listing. The Nasdaq Stock Market, NYSE’s New York-based rival, has suspended some listing rules since October. Nasdaq waived until April 20 its requirements that companies maintain a share price of more than $1 and a market value of at least $5 million.