Although you’d never guess it now if you visit Wall Street, the stock market and the idea of trading stocks is a very old practice that spawns originally from 11th century traders in Cairo. Virtually every developed nation now has some form of a stock market, with those in the United States, China, India, the UK, France, Japan, and Germany being the most influential in the world. Today, the New York Stock Exchange holds the honor of being the biggest stock market in operation.

Stocks were traded in some capacity for hundreds of years, but the first true form of a stock market came in 1602 when the Dutch East India Company issued the first shares of stock on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. This stock company was popular for large companies because trading stocks allowed shareholders to invest in the business venture. These shareholders would then get a piece of the profits or losses, whatever the case may be. Today, companies are still intrigued with the stock market for the same reason.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, or Amsterdam Bourse, as it came to be known, continued in existence until 2000, when it merged with the Brussels Stock Exchange and the Paris Stock Exchange to form Euronext Amsterdam, a new stock exchange company. Over the course of its history, it helped to inspire beginnings for a number of other stock markets in the world.

The love of trading soon spread throughout Europe, with London’s market beginning with brokers doing simple business in 1725. By 1773, the coffeehouse where most of the meets took place was renamed “The Stock Exchange,” and business was booming. It was simply only a matter of time before the trading of stocks in the form of a stock market would travel across the Atlantic to the New World.

In the 1790s, before Wall Street was even paved, the stock market began. The process became organized by 1792, when 22 of the country’s major financial leaders signed an agreement stating rules and fees for trading stocks in their stock market. In 1863, the name changed to that which we know and love today—the New York Stock Exchange. Their major competition was a group known as the Curbstone Brokers, who dealt with companies that could not meet the regulations of the New York Stock Exchange and would stand outside doing business. In 1953, they were still going strong and were renamed the American Stock Exchange.

Of course, because the stock market is a powerhouse business center, it is often under attack by those who disagree with its practices. In 1920, a horse-drawn carriage bought the first bomb to Wall Street, killing 35 people, and over the years, the terror has continued, culminating with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

This does not deter most companies from striving to become a part of the stock exchange, either in the United States or around the world. Trading stocks puts investor’s money into a company and helps generate business for the company. When a company does well in the stock market, it becomes a more powerful leader in the world, so many are enticed to start trading. Although starting from rather humble beginnings, the stock market is one of the largest and most complex financial practices in the business world.

P. Johnson  stock specialist writes for Article Blogs

Article Source: http://www.thearticleblogs.com

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