วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 12 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2552

What is the New York Stock Exchange?

By Samantha Asher

The New York Stock Exchange, also known as the NYSE, is one of the biggest stock exchanges in existence. It lists over 3,200 companies and is located in New York City. Just like any other exchange, buyers and sellers are able to buy and sell stock easily through their broker over the NYSE. Like any kind of market, the NYSE permits stock to be bought and sold.

Since January 24, 2007, the Hybrid Market has allowed all NYSE stocks to be traded electronically, whereas before all business was conducted on the floor of the NYSE. The NYSE has a very specific way of doing business. Stock brokers have to go to the right location to buy their stock and it is run like an auction.

In order to trade on the floor, stock brokers must hold one of the 1,366 seats available. These seats are bought and sold similar to stocks. The price goes up and down just like stocks do and are generally very expensive.

Two of the most common U.S. stock indexes are the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or the Dow for Short, and the Standard & Poor 500, or S&P 500. The Dow includes 30 large companies, and the S&P 500 includes, you guessed it, 500.

Indexes are often used as a measuring point for how well the market is doing as a whole. The Dow is calculated through a price weighted average. Instead of a simple average, it is calculated by adding together the price of each of the 30 stocks and dividing it by 30 in order to keep it proportional.

The S&P 500 is often considered a better index to look at because it includes 500 stocks and is market value-weighted. They compute the value based upon the market value of the shares outstanding. An example would be if one stock has three times as many stock outstanding, it will be counted three times as much.

Financial experts use Market Value Indexes to rate the overall progress of the stock market. For example, they will compare the value of the S&P 500 last month to this month to see if it went up or down. The Dow is used as well the same way, as are other indexes.

If you want to succeed in the stock market, you must understand the exchanges you buy from and the indexes well. They will help you tremendously and have been proven to be effective.

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