NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:NMX) skyrocketed at open today as one of the hottest IPOs this year began trading. The company priced above its already-raised expected range last night at $59 per share, but this proved to be far less than investors were willing to pay as the stock rocketed over 100% in morning trading to over $140 a share. Many investors are driven to buy Nymex after seeing red hot performance and M&A activity amongst other exchanges: The NYSE IPO'd not long ago and performed extremely well; the LSE was the subject of a bidding war; the CME and CBOT were involved in a merger/buyout; and the NASDAQ has been red hot since it went public. Here's a chart showing three of the largest exchanges that have clearly outperformed the market during the past few years:



Investors appear confident that the Nymex will perform similarly, and some are even speculating the Nymex could be the subject of a buyout as consolidation within the industry continues. This stock is definitely one to watch as exchanges continue to outperform the rest of the market.

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