Stock Market Basics
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tracks the performance of the stocks of:
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average tracks the performance of the stock of 30 large firms, all leaders in their fields, which include financial services, food, technology, retail, heavy equipment, oil, chemical, pharmaceutical, consumer goods, and entertainment. To be included on the list, a stock must be held by many investors. Together, the stocks on the list comprise about 20% of the value of all U.S. stocks.
When stock prices rise for an extended period of time it is called a(n):
- When stock prices rise over an extended period, is known as a bull market. When prices decline, it is called a bear market.
Wall Street got its name because it:
- In 1653 Dutch settlers built a stockade fence along the northern border of the settlement of New Amsterdam for protection from the British and the Indians. In 1685 a street was laid out along the wall. As the city expanded north, the wall was eventually taken down, but the street retained its name.
The New York Stock Exchange is owned by:
- The New York Stock Exchange is a non-profit company owned by its 1,366 members. In 1882, Charles Dow and Edward Jones began publishing a financial newsletter that later became The Wall Street Journal.
The New York Stock Exchange is located in a district named for what famous street?
- The New York Stock Exchange is officially located on Wall Street, also home to a number of other financial institutions. It is the most important financial address in the world. However, the stock exchange is actually a vast complex with several Wall Street and Broad Street addresses.
The federal agency most involved with regulation of stocks and stock markets is the:
- In the aftermath of the stock market crash of 1929, Congress passed a number of laws regulating the stock markets and protecting investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission was formed to enforce these laws in 1934. The Federal Reserve was founded in 1913 to provide a safer and more stable monetary and financial system, while the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was formed in 1933 to insure deposits in the nations banks and to promote safe banking practices.
Ownership shares of a corporation are known as stocks. There are two types, common stock and:
- While both common and preferred stock show ownership in a corporation, holders of preferred stock have the first claim on earnings, and on company assets in the event of liquidation. A bond is an IOU from a business or government entity promising to repay the purchase amount with interest over a certain period of time. A mutual fund is a pool of investors jointly owning shares in various investments, usually with a specific objective and managed by a professional.
The Buttonwood Agreement established the:
- On May 17, 1792, twenty-four New York brokers met under a Buttonwood tree, at what is now 68 Wall Street, and agreed to trade with each other and charge standard fees to their customers, thus beginning the New York Stock Exchange. It has expanded over time as conditions required. Congress created the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934 to enforce recently-passed securities laws.
The National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System, NASDAQ, is what:
- Established in 1971, NASDAQ is the world's first electronic stock market. Located in New York City's Time Square, NASDAQ trades an average of 1.7 billion shares per day. There are 4,892 companies, including Microsoft and Intel, with a total capitalization of $5.56 trillion listed on NASDAQ.
On January 4, 2001, a record number of shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange. That number was approximately:
- On that day, 2,129,445,637 shares were bought or sold, setting a record. The lowest trading day was March 16, 1839, when 31 shares exchanged hands.
