US Lesson 01 - Beginner's Guide to the US Stock Market

01 - First lesson to teach you the basic information of United States Stock Market.

​A Quick Look at the US Stock Market

The US stock market is one of the most developed in the world. It draws many great companies and a lot of investment funds from around the world. This part will talk about how the US stock market, important exchanges, and major stock indexes have changed over time.

1. The Major Stock Exchanges

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq are the two major stock exchanges in the US stock market.
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• NYSE

When it opened in 1792, the NYSE was one of the first stock markets in the United States. The NYSE has more than 2,400 stocks and a market value of more than $27 trillion, which is more than double the value of all the companies that are listed. This makes it the world's biggest stock exchange.
Companies like Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, and IBM are listed on the NYSE. These are well-known brands with a long past, a lot of customers, and steady growth.
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• Nasdaq

You can buy and sell stocks on the Nasdaq market in the United States. It has been around since 1971 and is now the world's second-largest stock market.
More than 3,700 companies with a market value of more than $24 trillion are traded on Nasdaq as of the end of 2021. Before, the Nasdaq market was the best place to list tech stocks that were growing quickly. Nasdaq is where a lot of big tech companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon can be found.

2. Major Stock Indexes

There are three major indexes in the U.S. stock market, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) , the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a stock market index that measures the performance of 30 large, publicly-owned companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq. 
• The initial composition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average comprised a selection of twelve equities that were deemed to be highly representative of the American industrial sector. Since its inception, the index has undergone periodic updates and currently encompasses the 30 most notable publicly traded corporations in the United States, representing a diverse range of industries. The majority of these enterprises are not affiliated with heavy industry, but rather operate within sectors such as food, banking, pharmaceuticals, software, and other related industries. Dow's constituent stocks include several prominent firms, such as Apple, Boeing, Disney, and McDonald's.

 

• The S&P 500 Index is a widely recognised and commonly used benchmark for the performance of the U.S. stock market. It is composed of 500 large-cap companies.
• The equities encompassed under the S&P 500 index represent a collection of almost the 500 most frequently traded stocks inside the United States. Several prominent industrial stocks, including Boeing and General Motors, as well as consumer stocks such as Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble, and technology stocks like Apple and Google, are included in this group.

 

• The Nasdaq Composite is a stock market index that tracks the performance of a wide range of stocks listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The Nasdaq Composite Index (symbol: .IXIC.US) holds significant influence within the United States financial market. The calculation is derived from the securities of both domestic and foreign public firms that are listed on the Nasdaq market.
• The constituents of Nasdaq generally consist of advanced technology, telecommunications, and biotech companies that exhibit rapid growth. Prominent technology corporations, like Microsoft, Intel, and Amazon, are among the constituent stocks of the Nasdaq.