The largest stock market in the world is the New York Stock
Exchange. It is also the oldest financial market in the United States.
Its history dates to 1792. Today, two-thousand-eight hundred companies (1)
trade their shares at the New York Stock Exchange. Together, the value (2)
of those stocks is almost fifteen-million-million dollars. These
companies are all public traded. That means any investor can buy their (3)
stock. A foreign company can trade on the New York Stock Exchange by
placing some of its shares in a bank. An American Depositary Receipt is
giving in place of the stock, and can be traded on the exchange. About (4)
four-hundred-seventy companies from fifty-one other nations are
represented on the New York Stock Exchange.
Stock is share in the ownership of a company. Debt is also traded (5)
on the exchange. Bonds are generally sold in amount of one-thousand (6)
dollars or more. Companies and governments sell bonds as a way to
borrow money. Buyers earn interest as they wait for the bonds to reach
full value. Bonds can be resold or divided. (7)
The New York Stock Exchange is owned by its members. It has
more than one-thousand-three-hundred members. It have the right (8)
to buy and sell securities on the trading floor, for other investors or for
them. A membership is traditionally called a seat. These can (9)
also be bought and sold. Memberships have sometime sold for more (10)
than two-million dollars.