Stock Market Help - Have You Ever Wondered How The Stock Market Works?How does the stock market work?The term 'Stock Market' is commonly used to encompass both the physical location for buying and selling stocks as well as the overall activity of the market within a certain country. When we hear an expression such as 'The stock market was down today' it refers to the combined activity of many stock exchanges i.e. the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq etc. in the United States. Stock Market 101The 'Stock Exchange' is the correct term for the physical location for trading stocks. Each country may have many different stock exchanges and usually a particular company's stocks are traded on only one exchange, although large corporations may be listed in several different locations. Stock exchanges exist throughout the world and it is possible to buy or sell stocks on any of them. The only restriction is the opening hours of each exchange. Both the NYSE and Nasdaq for example operate from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time from Monday to Friday. Other exchanges have similar opening hours based on their local time. If you want to trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange your order will be executed sometime between 9:30 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. New York time. The major stock exchanges of the world are located in Japan (Tokyo Stock Exchange), India (Bombay Stock Exchange), Europe (London Stock Exchange, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, SWX Swiss Exchange), the People's Republic of China (Shanghai Stock Exchange) and the United States. The major exchanges in the US are the NYSE, Nasdaq, and Amex. |