The stock market broadly refers to the collection of exchanges and other venues where the buying, selling, and issuance of shares of publicly held companies take place. Such financial activities are conducted through institutionalized formal exchanges (whether physical or electronic) or via over-the-counter (OTC) marketplaces that operate under a defined set of regulations.
While both the terms “stock market” and “stock exchange” are often used interchangeably, the latter term generally comprises a subset of the former. If one trades in the stock market, it means that they buy or sell shares on one (or more) of the stock exchange(s) that are part of the overall stock market. A given country or region may have one or more exchanges comprising their stock market. The leading U.S. stock exchanges include the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq. These leading national exchanges, along with several other exchanges operating in the country, form the stock market of the United States.
Understanding the Stock Market
The stock market allows numerous buyers and sellers of securities to meet, interact, and transact. Stock markets allow for price discovery for shares of corporations and serve as a barometer for the overall economy. Since the number of stock market participants is huge, one can often be assured of a fair price and a high degree of liquidity as various market participants compete with one another for the best price.
A stock market is a regulated and controlled environment. In the United States, the main regulators include the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and market participants under the purview of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).21 Since the stock market brings together hundreds of thousands of market participants who wish to buy and sell shares, it ensures fair pricing practices and transparency in transactions. While earlier stock markets used to issue and deal in paper-based physical share certificates, the modern-day computerized stock markets operate electronically.
How the Stock Market Works
In a nutshell, stock markets provide a secure and regulated environment where market participants can transact in shares and other eligible financial instruments with confidence, with zero to low operational risk. Operating under the defined rules as stated by the regulator, the stock markets act as primary markets and secondary markets.3
As a primary market, the stock market allows companies to issue and sell their shares to the common public for the first time through the process of an initial public offering (IPO). This activity helps companies raise necessary capital from investors. It essentially means that a company divides itself into a number of shares (for example, 20 million shares) and sells a part of those shares (say, 5 million shares) to the public at a price (for instance, $10 per share).3
To facilitate this process, a company needs a marketplace where these shares can be sold. This marketplace is provided by the stock market. If everything goes according to plan, then the company will successfully sell the 5 million shares at a price of $10 per share and collect $50 million worth of funds. Investors will get the company shares, which they can expect to hold for their preferred duration, in anticipation of rising in share price and any potential income in the form of dividend payments. The stock exchange acts as a facilitator for this capital-raising process and receives a fee for its services from the company and its financial partners
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