The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.
NASDAQ was the world's first electronic stock market and remains the largest today. It was created in 1971. NASDAQ was originally an acronym that stood for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation. It has since simply become Nasdaq, a proper noun. The Nasdaq is an electronic network which facilitates trading and provides price quotations through a computerized system. Nasdaq now manages two different market areas ? the Nasdaq National Market, which trades larger, household-name stocks such as Microsoft and Dell, and the Nasdaq SmallCap Market for smaller, growth companies.
The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. trades the most stocks and reports the highest share volume of any U.S. stock market. Nasdaq maintains a philosophy of "open architecture." Participation in the stock exchange is not limited to any number of participants. Any firm that meets the basic requirements can join. Any firm that meets the basic requirements can join. Among these participants are around 400 market makers who act as shopkeepers, controlling what is bought and what is sold. Market makers, also referred to as dealers, provide liquidity through buying or selling the stocks for their own account. Dealers dealing with a particular stock are required to post their bidding and asking prices into the network which allows all of Nasdaq's participants to have access to that information. This provides more opportunity for buying and selling and allows the market to maintain a constant flow of activity.
The Nasdaq also connects other trading systems, such as electronic communication networks (ECNs). Through these additional networks, investors can trade directly with each ...