National Market System

National Market System - National Market System is the over-the-counter-trading. The structure of trading OTC stocks under the sponsorship of the NASD. The NASD meets certain criteria for size, profitability, and trading activity. More wide-ranging information is available for NMS stocks than for non-NMS stocks traded OTC, high, low, and last-sale prices, cumulative volume figures, and bid and ask quotations throughout the day. This is due to the fact that market makers report price and number of shares in each transaction within ninety seconds verses non-real-time reporting for non-NMS stocks. A national market system has been optimistic by the SEC as a trading system.