Depending on who you listen to, this week's news that the London Stock Exchange is to merge with its Frankfurt counterpart is either a backdoor shove into the evil euro, or a great modernising leap forward which will streamline the whole sharetrading process along pan-European lines.
The news prompted the predictable flood of xenophobic jokes on website investor bulletin boards (und now, fur somezing completely different... ) as well as some genuine concerns about the safety of investing in the plunging euro. But what does the merger really mean for the private investor?
Is it good news?
It should lead to quick, efficient trading, says execution-only broker Charles Schwab.
Stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown agrees: "In the long term it should be a good thing. It will make it easier for the more sophisticated investor to buy foreign stocks like Deutsche Telekom cheaply. At the moment we don't offer our clients this service as it is just too expensive to be worthwhile," says a spokesman.
What about costs?
As trading becomes more efficent, margins will narrow and brokerage costs will fall and this should be passed onto the consumer.
What about volatility? Will it make the stockmarket gyrate even more?
The merged market will be much more liquid than the current LSE and pundits say that volatility levels should not be affected either way.
Is it going to increase demand for shares?
The Association of Investment Trust Companies says that demand from Europe for cheap UK investment trusts may increase, which is good news for their shareholders. The extra demand should mean narrower discounts - so your shares will be worth more.
In future will share prices be quoted in euros?
Here lies the big question. The new exchange, to be called iX, will not force any company to list in euros and many companies will chose not to do so.
Building societies turned banks, for instance, have a very wide base of small shareholders in the UK and most of them will have little interest in listing in euros. But growing telecoms companies, for example, with plans for pan-European expansion, may prefer to list in euros rather than sterling. That will expose investors to a currency risk unless we join the single currency.
Prices of UK companies listed in newspapers will continue to be given in sterling at least until the new organisation is operational.
What will this mean if I only invest through unit trusts or Isas?
Collective investors will not see a big change, at least in the short term. Unit trusts will only convert to euro listing if their unit holders - that is, you - want to make the change. Even so, buying and selling in sterling will continue.
Alternative Investment Market (AIM) shares will not be affected.
Is this the death of stamp duty on share purchases?
Although news of the merger was widely leaked, many of the details have yet to be pinned down.
The most important of these is stamp duty. In the UK we pay duty of 0.5% on share purchases, but in Germany deals are not taxed.
Last year there were rumours that Gordon Brown was considering scrapping the duty, and this week's announcement will be another inducement to him.
Are other countries going to get involved?
The new organisation, iX - which will be based partly in London and partly in Frankfurt - plans to forge a link with the US technology market Nasdaq.
It is not yet clear just how this will work, but it should add to the number of shares available cheaply to UK investors. Exchanges in Milan and Madrid have already said they would like to get involved in iX.
What about trading hours? The Deutsche Börse has different opening times from the LSE.
Xetra, the computer system, or platform, on which the Frankfurt market trades, opens from 8.30am to 5pm German time, but from the beginning of June, trading will be extended into the evening until 8pm. It seems inevitable that the UK will move into line with this - and when the Nasdaq alliance happens, trading will operate round the clock.
Will this mean the end of the FTSE?
What also seems inevitable is the eventual end of the FTSE 100. The exchanges have yet to hammer out which indices will be used, but there have already been moves towards a wider benchmark for share prices in both markets.
So when will all this happen?
Nothing will happen just yet. As the Stock Exchange is keen to point out, the merger is "an agreement at high level" and, shareholder agreement pending, will not go through until the autumn. The effects will not be felt by most people for some time after that.
Does this mean no more days when you cannot trade because the stock exchange computer system has gone down?
Everyone hopes so; the German exchange's technology will be used.
