How the Stock Market Works

There is no one fixed stock exchange, just as there is no one place for buying and selling houses. Increasingly, the stock exchange is dispersing and multiplying, with the number of markets proliferating. It is now possible for an investor to deal on Nasdaq in New York, on the Frankfurt stock exchange or to go to an online broker. With such complexity it becomes increasingly difficult to see exactly what and where the market is. It may be easier and cheaper to trade, but is less easy to trade successfully.