From Traderpedia

Definition: A market in which stocks, bonds, commodities, options, and/or futures are traded.

To be traded, a security must list on an exchange, a central place where buyers and sellers meet. The two big U.S. stock exchanges are the esteemed NYSE and the fast-growing NASDAQ; companies listed on either of these exchanges must meet various minimum requirements and baseline rules concerning the "independence" of their boards. But these are by no means the only legitimate exchanges. Electronic communication networks (ECNs) are relatively new, but they are sure to grab a bigger slice of the transaction pie in the future.

There are auction based exchanges, which means specialists and/or floor traders are physically present on the exchanges’ trading floors (a.k.a pits). Each specialist "specializes" in a particular stock, buying and selling the stock in a verbal auction. These specialists are under competitive threat by electronic-only exchanges that claim to be more efficient (that is, execute faster trades and exhibit smaller bid-ask spreads) by eliminating human intermediaries.

A byproduct of exchange trading is price transparency.

[edit] Stock Exchanges

There are stock exchanges in many world capitals and major cities. These include:

• New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
• Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE)
• London Stock Exchange (LSE)
• NASDAQ
• Paris Bourse

For more info, see Category:Stock Exchanges

[edit] Futures and Options Exchanges

• Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)
• Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE)
• Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)
• EUREX
• International Petroleum Exchange (IPE)
• London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE)
• New York Merchantile Exchange (NYMEX)
• New York Board of Trade (NYBOT)
• COMEX
• Tokyo International Financial Futures Exchange (TIFFE)

[edit] See Also

• Delayed opening
• Circuit breaker