The stock market encompasses all the people, companies and institutions buying and selling slices of publicly-owned companies and other securities. When someone says that the stock market is down, it means that public companies in general have lost some of their value, at least in the eyes of the investors.
The stock market encompasses all the exchanges worldwide, such as the NASDAQ (where Facebook is listed) or the Toronto Stock Exchange (where Shopify is listed). There are 60 major stock exchanges recognized worldwide. New York has two stock markets (the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange), Canada has three (Toronto Stock Exchange, TSV Venture Exchange and the Canadian National Stock Exchange). They’re each so big that people try to make sense of them by dividing it by sectors such as Technology, Financial and Basic Materials.
Related Terms
If a company was an apple pie, a stock would be a slice of the pie. In short, a stock is a slice of a company. Everyone who owns a piece of a company has the right to share a portion of the profits of the company. Read more
A bond is nothing more than a debt. If you have forgotten your lunch and you borrow $20 from your friend, you owe them a debt. If you gave them a piece of paper indicating the amount of the debt, this piece of paper would be similar to a bond. Read more
Exchange Traded Fund definition
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are a pool of investments sold as a single product. Remember those cheesy christmas basket, filled with the standard jam jars and hot chocolate mix, your parents might have received? Read more
About The Author: Edouard
Edouard is a financial analyst at Hardbacon. He is responsible for compiling lists of securities that our users can find in the "Explore" section of the application.
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