Primary equities markets

New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ

The New York Stock Exchange traces its origins back more than 200 years, to the signing of the Buttonwood Agreement by 24 New York City stockbrokers and merchants in 1792. The NYSE registered as a national securities exchange with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 1, 1934. One of its increasingly unique features is that it still practices the open outcry system of trading. NASDAQ, on the other hand, is an electronic quotation system that provides price quotations to market participants about more actively traded common stock issues in the over the counter market. About 4000 common stock issues are included in the NASDAQ system. The Nasdaq Stock Market made its debut in 1971 as the world's first electronic stock market. Trades are executed though a sophisticated computer and telecommunications network.

 

Primary equities indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted average of 30 blue-chip stocks that are generally the leaders in their industry. It has been a widely followed indicator of the stock market since October 1, 1928.

 

Nasdaq

The Nasdaq Composite Index is a broad-based capitalization-weighted index of all Nasdaq National Market & Small Cap stocks. The index was developed with a base level of 100 as of February 5, 1971.

 

 

The Dow and Nasdaq were up 7.3 percent and 15.9 percent respectively in 2012. For the year 2013, the Dow gained 26.5 percent while the Nasdaq was 38.3 percent higher. In 2014, the Dow added 5.2 percent and the Nasdaq, 13.4 percent.

 

The indexes have wobbled in 2015. Both the Dow and Nasdaq were down five of ten months so far this year. Both were lower in January, March, June, August and September. In October the Dow jumped 8.5 percent while the Nasdaq added 9.4 percent.