The Stock Market's Impact on Our Lives

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Every weekday from the hours of 10am to 4pm $169 billion dollars on average trades hands from one party to another. It’s the New York Stock Exchange and has been trading stocks since 1817. The stock market has a definite impact on our lives (just ask those who lived during The Great Depression.) It is an institution that has made people unfathomably wealthy, along with impossibly poor. Today the New York Stock Exchange has over 2,300 different companies trading stock valued at just over 16 trillion dollars.
Currently there are over one hundred unique stock exchanges throughout the world. A Stock exchange provides a means for companies to raise capital through issuing stock. This process begins when a private company files to issue an initial public offering or an IPO. Often time’s companies wish to seek assistance from investment banks or other financial institutions to help get the IPO started. An investment banker looks over the company’s financial statements and records to determine what the company is valued at. Then stocks are issued to stock exchanges for investors and traders to purchase. The company raises money by selling their shares of stock to investors. The company and the investors share a mutualistic relationship as the company is in need of capital and the investors that purchased the stock believe that the company will do well and in return the stock will grow. Stocks fluctuate based off of several economic indicators. These factors include inflation, the strength of the market and competition, trends, and many more depending on what you are investing in. These factors are, for the most part, unpredictable. Even events such as a national disaster or terrorist attack can greatly impact the stock ma...

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...chnology very similarly to what educators are facing now.
The stock market; all though enticing, is no get rich quick scheme. It is a rather complex economic system that can be found throughout the world. It has seen a great deal of changes since its inception. The history of the stock market is very much like that of a graph of a stock with plenty of ups and downs. Without all of its highs and lows we would not have the stock systems we have in place today. Today we have a system where the companies and traders have a mutualistic interest; for the stocks to excel. It is the talking point of many conversations along with being subject to much speculation. Stock markets are ever expanding as more and more IPO’s are being filed. With a platform in place to allow crucial funding to corporations, the stock market is one of the most important systems set in place.

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