Stock Exchange is the market for the sale and purchase of securities of corporations and municipalities, and in some cases, of certificates representing commodities of trade. Stock exchanges operate in many of the larger cities in the U.S., such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Colorado, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Stock exchanges also operate in most of the major commercial centers throughout the world. The most important stock exchanges in the U.S. are the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange, both located in New York City.
The New York Stock Exchange is the largest organized market in the United States for buying and selling shares of stock. Trading on the New York Stock Exchange is conducted in stocks and bonds , as well as options and financial futures. The number of listings on the exchange varies from time to time. No stock may be traded on the New York Stock Exchange unless the issuing company furnishes to the exchange the information demanded in its requirements for listing. The following general information is required in connection with the original application for listing stocks (and bonds) on the New York Stock Exchange: title of the company; status of the security under the Federal Securities Act; history of the business, description of properties; affiliated companies, management, labor relations, dividend record; capitalization; warrants, conversion rights, or other commitments; funded debt; pending litigation of a material nature; accounting policies, and financial statements.
Before stock exchanges existed in the U.S., securities were sold either by brokers, often in coffeehouses, or else by privately hired auctioneers. Philadelphia, the nation's capital at the time, founded the first formally organized stock exchange in 1791 and set standards for several years. The New York Stock Exchange, which some years later became the largest of all U.