Stock Markets

The New York Stock Exchange
The largest public stock market is the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), also known as ‘the Big Board’. It is home to many
of the largest and most well-known American companies. It is an example of an auction market. Another example of such a
market is the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) which, whilst smaller, is still very prestigious. There is no main and
secondary tier system in these stock exchanges.
In the USA there are also lots of other regional stock markets. However, a big national competitor to NYSE is NASDAQ, which
is a dealer market. All trades for NASDAQ’s stocks are done via a computerised network of investment banks and brokerage
firms. NASDAQ has a main tier for its large companies, but it also has a second tier for its small capitalisation companies.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE)
The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) is the second largest stock exchange in the world. Like, NASDAQ, there is no actual ‘floor’,
with all trading being done electronically. Stocks listed on the TSE are separated into the First Section (for large companies),
the Second Section (for mid-sized companies) and the ‘Mothers Section’ (for high-growth start-up companies).
The London Stock Exchange
In the UK, the stock market is known as the London Stock Exchange. There are actually two markets within this stock
exchange. The first of these is the Official List. This is the top tier of the market and is only available for large companies who
can meet the strict criteria of the listing requirements. The largest companies on the Official List are known as the FTSE 100
and their shares are traded through the Stock Exchange Electronic Trading Service (SETS).
The second Tier of the London Stock Exchange is the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The listing requirements for this
market are much less onerous, hence it tends to be used by smaller, more recently established companies.