1. New York Stock Exchange: $9.57 trillion in market value
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is located on famous Wall Street in lower Manhattan, New York City, and has been around since 1792. Although it is a listed exchange with physical trading floors and rooms, all stocks on the NYSE can now be traded electronically, electronic transactions representing most of the trades performed. In October 2008, it was merged with the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and is now the largest stock exchange in existence. It is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 to 16:00 Eastern Time, except on holidays.

2. Tokyo Stock Exchange: $3.10 trillion in market value
The TSE, or Tokyo Stock Exchange, was created in 1878. More than 2000 companies are listed on the TSE and its main indices are the TSE and the famous Nikkei 225. Most security transactions in Japan are done through the TSE, which operates entirely on electronic stock trading. It is open from 9:00 to 11:00 and from 12:30 to 15:30 (GMT + 9 hours).

3. NASDAQ Stock Exchange: $2.77 trillion in market value
The NASDAQ, or National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, is the largest virtual stock trading market in America. Unlike the NYSE, the young Nasdaq (founded in 1971) doesn’t have a history of trading floors and rooms to physically trade stocks. Stock trading is done entirely through an electronic network of dealers; it is an electronic screen-based stock market. It is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 to 16:00 Eastern Time (minus holidays) and offers pre-market and post-market trading sessions extending these hours from 7AM to 8PM, Eastern Time.

4. Euronext: $2.26 trillion in market value
Based in Paris and with branches across Europe, Euronext was born in 2000 from the merger of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, Brussels Stock Exchange and Bourse de Paris. It subsequently went on to perform other mergers and share acquisitions, to today become the fourth largest stock exchange in the world. It merged in 2006 with the NYSE to create the NYSE Euronext corporation, which now oversees both exchanges. Its opening hours in Europe are from 9:00 to 17:30, local time to the branch in question.

5. London Stock Exchange: $2.20 trillion in market value
Founded in 1801, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is located in London and lists over 3000 British and overseas companies. It has a number of indices, the most common being the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250. Opening hours are 08:00 to 16:30 on weekdays.

6. Shanghai Stock Exchange: $2.07 trillion in market value

7. Hong Kong Stock Exchange: $1.77 trillion in market value

8. Toronto Stock Exchange: $1.35 trillion in market value

9. Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Deutsche Börse): $1.13 trillion in market value

10. Madrid Stock Exchange: $1.08 trillion in market value

Other notable big stock trading markets are the Bombay Stock Exchange ($1.03 trillion), the National Stock Exchange of India ($968 million), the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange ($920 million), the Swiss Exchange ($854 million) and the Australian Securities Exchange ($839 million).

Companies usually get listed on the stock exchange as a way to raise capital (see our next tutorial about what are stocks). If the company’s ideas and prospects sound good, investors may see an opportunity in owning part of that company. Buying stocks means buying part of a corporation. That company may strive, or it may sink.

Investors trade shares using brokers: professional entities accredited to perform trades on various markets. When buying or selling a stock, an investor traditionally fills an order and sends it to the broker, who then submits it to the relevant market. If you wish to buy common stock from Apple, for instance, the broker will relay the order to the Nasdaq, which is the market where Apple is traded.

Stocks are traded on various markets around the world, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) etc… Some stocks are sold on more than one market, and markets are not necessarily geographically distributed (the Nasdaq, for instance, lists both US and non-US companies). Markets can also be specialized in particular segments. The Nasdaq, for instance, is a trading market specialized in technology and growth companies.

When hearing of a drop of X% for the TSX, or Y% for the Nasdaq, people refer to the change in the indices of such markets. The indices represent the overall performance of the companies listed on the markets. In the case of the Nasdaq, the main index looked at in the news is the Nasdaq Composite – an index of all common stocks listed on the Nasdaq. It is value-weighted based on the capitalization of the more than 3,800 companies listed there. Various indices exist, for the Nasdaq and other markets, and are used to analyze the performance of various sectors and sub-sectors by compiling value-weighted data from relevant companies.

Owning stocks can obviously be lucrative for investors because if the circumstances are favorable, the confidence from investors towards that company can increase and push the stock price to rise. If it does, the investors can sell the stocks for a profit. Some companies also distribute periodic dividends to investors, a way to share the profits that have been made.

The stock market is a key instrument of wealth manipulation worldwide. The stock prices on various markets mainly represent the confidence that investors have in the companies. It is therefore not a perfect entity, but careful and well-informed decisions can yield great returns for investors.