In 1792, twenty-four stockbrokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement under a buttonwood tree in Number 68 Wall Street. They drafted a constitution organizing themselves into the New York Stock & Exchange Board, what is now the world’s largest equities marketplace.
Because it is the largest equities marketplace in the world, billions of dollars of shares are traded daily. The total global market value of the listed companies is estimated at $25 trillion dollars. This includes non-U.S. companies which are worth $9.6 trillion dollars. The stock exchange’s primary function is to allow investors to buy and sell shares of the publicly traded companies they list. These companies are a cross-section of large, midsize and small capitalization companies.
The New York Stock Exchange is comprised of companies who trade on the floor for numerous US companies and entities from around the world. They directly buy and sell shares from a special group of auctioneers representing seat owners. These seats are owned by large firms who can afford to buy their place in the exchange, priced at millions of dollars. This privilege allows them to trade and handle billions of dollars in market orders directly to the member companies.
Although the New York Stock Exchange basically started as a non-profit organization, its basic purpose is to increase the operating capital of corporations by offering shares to the public. Consumers are given the chance to own a percentage of any of the 2,800 companies (total value of $21 trillion US dollars in the global market) listed in the exchange by buying stocks or shares. They can earn through stock dividends or through selling their shares. The list comprises of small, medium to large enterprises like ExxonMobil and Colgate.
To best serve its investors, the New York Stock Exchange continually improves on the quality of its corporate governance policies. The structure of these policies are created with the consumers in mind and applicable to anyone, whether share ownership is by a person with only a small percentage invested or by a huge entity with a large stake in another company. Companies whose shares are sold to the public must meet the high-level of standards required by the exchange and practice complete financial transparency to its shareholders. Learn more about trading stock at http://www.learningtotradestock.com
Companies who would like to directly trade in the New York Stock Exchange must come up with the finances to afford any of the limited “seats” that can cost up to millions of dollars. The activities of these member corporations are carefully regulated by the exchange.
The New York Stock Exchange does not lack either in historically significant facts about its members. For example, the first company to be listed in Wall Street was the Bank of New York, trading in the same year of the organization’s creation. The New York Gas Light Company holds the record for the longest listed corporation. The exchange had a telephone installed in the building in 1978 before it got electric lights five years later.
The New York Stock Exchange’s web site has a list of member firms and is a good place to get to know a little bit more about the exchange before you begin investing. However, chances are that if you only decide to invest a moderate amount, you will be talking to a correspondent broker of a member firm who will charge a fee for buying or selling stock. Just remember to make sure that they are regulated and licensed by the exchange before you give them any funds to invest.