Stock exchange
Also called: exchange, stock market
A stock exchange is a regulated marketplace where buyers and sellers trade shares, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or Nasdaq.
Exchanges match buy and sell orders, publish prices and set listing rules. Most individual investors reach them through a broker.
"The stock market" usually means all the exchanges together, and is often summed up by an index like the S&P 500.
Related terms
- Broker: A broker is a licensed firm that places trades on an exchange for you and holds your investments in an account, like Fidelity, Schwab or Robinhood.
- Order book: An order book is the live list of buy and sell orders waiting at each price for a stock.
- Index fund: An index fund is a fund that buys every stock in a market index, such as the S&P 500, in the same proportions, so it matches the market's return instead of trying to beat it.
- IPO (initial public offering): An IPO is the first time a company sells shares to the public, after which its stock trades on an exchange.
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