NATIONAL COUNCIL ON ECONOMIC EDUCATION JOINS RANKS OF ALLIANCE FOR INVESTOR EDUCATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.//July 11, 2006// The non-profit Alliance for Investor Education (AIE) announced today that the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) is its newest participating organization. The 21-member Alliance for Investor Education Web (http://www.investoreducation.org) provides U.S. investors with access to a full range of information they need to make wise investment decisions.

AIE President Michael D. Jones, who also is senior vice president at the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), said: "The addition of the NCEE will allow us to further expand the work of the Alliance for Investor Education. The Council has helped lead in providing educational tools to promote economic literacy to teachers and students, an important step on the road to creating informed adults. We're happy to have them bring their expertise and resources to AIE and we look forward to working with NCEE as they help us further our collective efforts."

The mission of the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) is to help all students develop the real-life skills they need to sucNCEEd: to be able to think and choose as knowledgeable consumers, savers and investors, responsible citizens, productive members of the workforce and effective participants in a global economy. NCEE conducts three core programs: EconomicsAmerica, for the nation's schools; EconomicsInternational, for teacher training in other countries; and EconomicsExchange, for life-long learning.

ABOUT AIE

The full breadth of the investment world is represented in AIE's membership ranks. Full members of the Alliance include: American Association of Individual Investors, American Financial Services Association Education Foundation, BetterInvesting, Bond Market Association, CFA Institute, Employee Benefit Research Institute's Education and Research Fund, Futures Industry Institute, Investment Company Institute Education Foundation, Investor Protection Trust, NASD, National Council on Economic Education, National Endowment for Financial Education, National Futures Association, National Investor Relations Institute, the New York Stock Exchange, Securities Industry Association, and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Investor Education and Assistance, the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the North American Securities Administrators Association are governmental and quasi-governmental advisors to the Alliance.

CONTACT: Ailis Aaron Wolf, (703) 276-3265 or .