Howard's End

However, industry sources say the move has left many people scratching their heads and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The conventional wisdom is that somehow this is a ploy to keep Tullett Prebon CEO Terry Smith and his checkbook away from eSpeed and possibly temporarily silence investors at Chapman Capital, an eSpeed investor that raised a stink when Lutnick voted his Class B shares to torpedo Smith's $600 million offer for eSpeed in April.

With one quick stroke of the pen, Cantor was able