subject: Basic Facts About Stock Exchanges [print this page] A stock exchange is a marketplace, be it an real place or an electronic medium, where stocks and securities are traded. The most common traded items are stocks. Every business day, Tens of millions of shares are purchased and sold.
NYSE is the biggest among the twenty stock markets operational today. It has the highest number of trades and the gross value of transactions. Earlier, we used to see various individuals speaking loud and trading shares in the crowded stock exchange floors during the day hours.
The stock exchanges have transformed a lot with time. All the cries and crowds are a section of the history. Trading is being done via networked computers and this has lead to greater efficiency and dependability.
The public companies list their shares using the stock exchange. Their share price fluctuates according to their profits and operation. When the economic system is not doing good, the stock exchange also goes down. When the stocks move up, it indicates an increase in the economic system.
The very first stock markets actually started centuries ago in old France, so this is not a new system. Back then banks bought and traded debts from agrarian communities in order to regulate and manage their securities. The idea of organizations being listed on the market place was first begun by the Dutch in the beginning of sixteenth century.
The advanced concept of the stock market started to catch on in the early eighteenth century. After the initial success, many stock exchanges were established everywhere and various companies benefited from them.
It is only after the spread of globalization that the stock exchanges have actually decreased in number.
