Dallas, TX
How the Texas Stock Exchange could reshape Dallas and the national stock market
Financial titans Blackrock and Citadel Securities have invested $120 million in creating a national stock exchange headquartered in downtown Dallas. Some steps still remain until it’s official, but with the Texas Stock Exchange looming in Dallas’ future, experts believe it could change the city for years.
On top of cementing Dallas’ reputation as the financial capital of the south, some believe it could drive more company relocations and jobs to the city and state. But questions remain as to whether it can be an effective competitor to institutional powers like the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ.
Still, it’s a moment that most experts believe will positively impact Dallas if Texas Stock Exchange CEO James Lee is able to get his registration for it approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He’s eyeing for the exchange to make its first listings in early 2026.
Though he said he won’t be listing any of his companies on the exchange, Dallas billionaire and Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban is one of many who’s in favor of it.
“I think it’s an amazing and smart idea. It would be great for Dallas,” Cuban said in an email to The Dallas Morning News. “Not just the jobs, but the improvement on digital infrastructure required, the focus on Dallas-based companies it would bring, and maybe most importantly, it would be a foundation for people to get a better financial education. It would certainly be a place schools took kids, even if it’s mostly just servers. I’m a huge fan of the concept.”
Lee wants to see the Texas Stock Exchange become the third biggest listing venue in the U.S., a giant task as he’ll be competing with institutional juggernauts like the NYSE and the NASDAQ.
Though many local stock exchanges have come and gone over the years, Lee thinks Texas will energize him and the Texas Stock Exchange with its diverse industries and the state’s growing workforce.
“I’m a proud Texan and I’ve been focused on this for decades. It’s really Governor Abbott’s leadership that sparked the idea that led to where we are today,” Lee said. “We have the market structure, expertise and professionals coming together on this project. It’s exciting and it’s going to be felt for decades.”
Changing Dallas’ culture
The Texas Stock Exchange plans to have 100 employees in Dallas based out of its executive offices in an unannounced location in the downtown area.
But experts like David Choate, COO of Dallas-based brokerage firm, don’t think the Texas Stock Exchange’s impact will be felt by the immediate jobs it brings to the area.
“Sorry, 100 more folks downtown isn’t a game changer,” he said. “But we’ve been seeing this cultural shift for the last 30 years. It’s more about the sense of credibility it brings to Dallas as a financial market. We’ve always been a financial center of the Southwest. But this firmly plants us on the map as competitors to New York and Chicago.”
If Dallas culturally shifts to become more like New York or Chicago, financial meccas, as a result of the Texas Stock Exchange, experts predict more outside companies will eye Texas as a viable state for its headquarters or office spaces, said Amirhossein Fard, assistant professor of finance at the University of North Texas.
“I think this could set up Dallas as a more attractive opportunity for local firms, especially in financial or legal consulting sectors that may be closely related to the stock exchange,” he said. “We’re already seeing it now with the new Goldman Sachs campus, but you can expect this to surge high profile financial events and conferences, and could spur new developments. But that could also drive property values higher”
Dallas is already an important financial capital in the U.S. It has a Federal Reserve Bank, has become the home of 24 Fortune 500 companies and is welcoming dozens of new, wealthy residents.
It’s still trying to reel in more companies which will call the city home through initiatives like Proposition G, a $72 million proposition on the 2024 Dallas bond package which will allow the city to use incentives to entice companies.
But to some, the Texas Stock Exchange, while an effective symbol of financial prestige, won’t be enough to bring in any new companies to the region.
“I don’t know that the possibility a company could list its stocks on a Texas exchange would cause them to relocate their headquarters,” said Thomas George, professor at the University of Houston’s Bauer Professor of Finance. “But it will give people an opportunity to identify itself with Texas if they want.”
The Texas Stock Exchange’s strategy will be to target companies in the Southeast quadrant of the United States from Texas to Florida to become listed. With more companies looking to regions beyond the northeast due to proposed financial transaction taxes, Dallas could be a big winner.
“Given the recent economic success of the state, it is quite likely that firms might be willing to list on a Texas exchange, particularly if its rules and protocols make it attractive,” said Ray Perryman, CEO of the Waco-based research firm, The Perryman Group. “The primary challenge would likely be overcoming the inertia of the long-standing presence and prestige associated with New York.”
Can the Texas Stock Exchange compete against the NYSE and NASDAQ?
The Texas Stock Exchange has a tall task ahead of itself in trying to challenge the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ. But Texas gives it a few competitive advantages that will serve it well.
Gov. Greg Abbott, who did not respond to an interview request from The News, is one of Lee’s assets.
He’s proposed banning financial transaction taxes, will be appointing seven judges onto Texas’ new business courts and has touted himself as a pro-business governor who will protect businesses from pesky regulations. Texas also has no corporate income or personal income tax.
“Gov. Abbott is not going to run this thing. It’s a private company that would be run by a board and those executives are going to make decisions independent of him,” said, George, the University of Houston professor. “But the branding of it, being located in Texas, it conveys a message to companies that would be listed here about our intentions concerning extra requirements that Texas would not need.”
Dallas, TX
Dallas Snowfall Totals: How much snow fell on Thursday and Friday?
DALLAS – North Texas got less snow than expected overnight.
FOX 4 Weather Meteorologist Evan Andrews said it was one of those crazy forecasts where some people got exactly what they expected, and others got the opposite.
“Some of you got that heavier precipitation [on Thursday]. Others were waiting for some overnight, and the precip overnight really never got going. We got a little bit of light snow on the backend but not a ton,” he said.
For snow lovers, the snow that was on the ground from Thursday is still there. However, the total accumulation did not increase much overnight.
Snowfall Totals (as of 4 a.m. Friday)
Overall, the areas of highest accumulation were north of Highway 182 in Cooke and Grayson counties. Areas like Gainesville, Sherman, and Bonham got more than 6 inches of snow.
A lot of people in Wise, Denton, and Collin counties got between 3 and 6 inches.
Fort Worth and North Dallas saw between 1 and 3 inches.
People south of Dallas got less than an inch of snow.
Thursday Snowfall (as of 9 p.m.)
Future Snowfall
No additional accumulation is expected on Friday, with the exception of maybe a few light flakes early Friday morning.
The Source: The information in this story comes from the FOX 4 Weather team.
Dallas, TX
Addison's WaterTower Theatre finds new stage for its summer musicals
For its 2025 season, Second Thought Theatre is going all-in on world premieres written by Dallas-Fort Worth playwrights.
While exploring the question of “What space does STT provide in DFW?” executive director Parker Davis Gray says, “STT is a place where audiences intentionally attend to be challenged by and wrestle with sharp new stories and an electric take on reimagined classics.”
The company likens this perspective to the work produced by the independent TV and film production company A24, and says that has inspired this upcoming season.
Opening Second Thought’s 21st season is Blake Hackler’s Healed, which follows Gail, who has been sick for 25 years.
Every doctor, every test, every treatment — none of it has worked. Now, with nothing left to lose, she sells everything and heads to a radical health center in the Texas Hill Country, run by the enigmatic and controversial Dr. T. Will this be her cure, her salvation, or something else entirely? It runs April 25-May 10, 2025.
Hackler’s previous work at STT includes the premieres of What We Were, The Necessities, and the 2018 Ibsen adaptation Enemies/ People.
Ringing in the summer is the sci-fi experiment Your Wife’s Dead Body, written by STT artistic associate Jenny Ledel in her playwriting premiere.
While Ledel is remembered for her performances in Belleville, Grounded, and What We Were, this shift to the other side of the table has been years in the making.
“Over the past few years, I’ve been reading Jenny’s plays and attending readings of her work,” says Gray, “she has such an accessible, inviting, and exciting voice that will resonate with Dallas as we begin to navigate the unknown landscape the next few years will bring us.”
Your Wife’s Dead Body takes place in the near future, as Jane takes advantage of a new AI technology that would extend her lifespan … even if she’s not around to see it for herself. A play about relationships, the nature of self, and what may or may not remain of us when we leave this life behind, this story asks us to consider the new and difficult questions humans may face as new technologies emerge.
Ledel’s world premiere will be directed by former STT artistic director (and Ledel’s husband) Alex Organ. It runs July 11-26, 2025.
To close out the 2025 season, STT will dive into a new genre with INCARNATE by STT’s own Parker Davis Gray.
Trapped in her cell, Rosamund is hellbent on escaping her fate while the Man who kidnapped her struggles with the consequences of what grief can do, and how far he will go to escape it. Can they live with themselves? Or more importantly, who else is living with them?
A horror/thriller that follows two artists over the course of a year in their seemingly pointless pursuit of creation while suffering under great grief. Directed by Jenna Burnett, who also directed the original reading at Undermain Theatre, it runs October 17-November 1, 2025.
In addition to a world premiere-packed season, STT will continue its year-long playwriting incubator program, Thought Process, andadd another development program to the docket.
2025 will be the inaugural year of Second Thought Theatre’s Associate Director Program, a year-long cohort aimed at providing professional development through education, exposure, and opportunity. Three early-career professionals will have the opportunity to assist on one production of the 2025 season, gain training and receive feedback from professional directors, spend the year working on scene study with STT artistic director Carson McCain, and then end their year with each director taking the lead on one to three readings.
“The purpose of this cohort is to fill a gap we currently see in the DFW arts community,” says McCain. “We want to offer early career directors a safe place to develop their craft and seek feedback from their peers and other professionals. We want this to be a group that allows directors to grow without the pressures of impressing a professional theater in order to be hired again. STT will serve as facilitators and educators, giving feedback, training, and a place to ask questions.”
Season subscriptions and individual tickets are now on sale at SecondThoughtTheatre.com. All productions will take place at Bryant Hall.
Second Thought Theatre Announces their new season centered around cost and consequence as they showcase the sharp and bold voices of local DFW playwrights.
Dallas, TX
Dallas Mavericks game moved up due to weather
DALLAS – The game between the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers has been moved up due to today’s weather.
Weather changes Mavs-Blazers tip-off time
What we know:
The Mavericks announced on Thursday that the game will start at 6:30 p.m., an hour earlier than their scheduled 7:30 start.
Doors to the American Airlines Center will open at 5 p.m.
The shift comes with the heaviest snow of the day expected on Thursday night.
The Mavericks are encouraging fans to check the latest weather conditions and consider riding the DART rail to Victory Station.
Dallas Weather Forecast
The heaviest snowfall is expected to begin after dark and continue past midnight. Moderate snow is expected for several hours in the early evening, starting around 8 p.m. Snowfall should mostly be over by sunrise Friday morning.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Dallas Mavericks and the FOX 4 Weather team.
-
Business1 week ago
These are the top 7 issues facing the struggling restaurant industry in 2025
-
Culture1 week ago
The 25 worst losses in college football history, including Baylor’s 2024 entry at Colorado
-
Sports1 week ago
The top out-of-contract players available as free transfers: Kimmich, De Bruyne, Van Dijk…
-
Politics1 week ago
New Orleans attacker had 'remote detonator' for explosives in French Quarter, Biden says
-
Politics1 week ago
Carter's judicial picks reshaped the federal bench across the country
-
Politics6 days ago
Who Are the Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
-
Health4 days ago
Ozempic ‘microdosing’ is the new weight-loss trend: Should you try it?
-
World1 week ago
Ivory Coast says French troops to leave country after decades