The New York Stock Exchange Is Accessible To All Investors

When it was founded in 1792 by the Buttonwood agreement, the 24 stockbrokers who formed the New York Stock Exchange had no way of knowing that it would become the largest exchange in the world. From its humble beginnings in a $200.00 a month office on Wall Street, the exchange has grown to trade the highest dollar volume and has the second most securities listed of all stock exchanges in the world.

The New York Stock Exchange has always been the focus of trading activity around the world. The biggest companies and investors trade billions of shares on the NYSE every day, which make the New York Stock exchange the barometer that most investors use to decide whether to buy or sell in an increasingly global market.

The New York Stock exchange has 1,366 members, who do all of the trading on behalf of their clients. These members are actually some of the largest brokerages and companies in the world, and have a net worth of their own that totals about 4 trillion dollars combined. Only members are allowed to trade directly at the exchange, so each member handles stock orders for millions of clients. This means that members are buying and selling billions of shares every day.

The New York Stock Exchange is the largest equities marketplace in the world, and represents a total global market value of $25 trillion. This makes it the most viable place for listed companies to raise capital for their business operations and expansions by selling shares to the general public. A total of 2,764 domestic and international companies are listed on the exchange, so anyone who is interested in purchasing stock from companies like Fuji or Xerox can contact a correspondent broker of a member who can place a stock order electronically or route it to the floor on their behalf.

Many potential investors get intimidated by the New York Stock Exchange because they only have a moderate amount to invest. They may think that because they only hold a few shares in a global company like Coca Cola, that they don't matter. However, the exchange protects any size investor by requiring that every listed company distribute the same financial information to every stock holder, regardless of the amount of stocks purchased.

The New York Stock Exchange also protects investors by screening and monitoring the activities of its members and brokers. Practices like insider trading and artificially inflating the price of stock are not tolerated and punishable by law.

The New York Stock exchange is unique in the fact that is a hybrid market. While some exchanges operate completely by electronic trading, the NYSE still trades in a continuous auction format on the trading floor in addition to electronic trading. The human interaction and improvised expert judgment combined with the technology of electronic trading make the NYSE truly the most exciting place to trade.

Make sure that when you decide to invest money in a listed company on the New York Stock exchange that you go through a licensed and regulated correspondent broker. They will be able to give you advice on purchasing stock and help you start an investment portfolio.

Before you start to invest, buy or trade shares in a company, check out how to trade stock and learn about the financial market at arbitrage trading