Trading

Participants in the stock market range from small individual stock investors to large hedge fundtraders, who can be based anywhere. Their orders usually end up with a professional at a stock exchange, who executes the order of buying or selling.

Some exchanges are physical locations where transactions are carried out on a trading floor, by a method known as open outcry. This type of auction is used in stock exchanges and commodity exchanges where traders may enter "verbal" bids and offers simultaneously. The other type of stock exchange is a virtual kind, composed of a network of computers where trades are made electronically via traders.

Actual trades are based on an auction market model where a potential buyer bids a specific price for a stock and a potential seller asks a specific price for the stock. (Buying or selling at marketmeans you will accept any ask price or bid price for the stock, respectively.) When the bid and ask prices match, a sale takes place, on a first-come-first-served basis if there are multiple bidders or askers at a given price.

The purpose of a stock exchange is to facilitate the exchange of securities between buyers and sellers, thus providing a marketplace (virtual or real). The exchanges provide real-time trading information on the listed securities, facilitating price discovery.

The New York Stock Exchange(NYSE) is a physical exchange, also referred to as a listedexchange – only stocks listed with the exchange may be traded, with a hybrid market for placing orders both electronically and manually on the trading floor. Orders executed on the trading floor enter by way of exchange members and flow down to a floor broker, who goes to the floor trading post specialist for that stock to trade the order. The specialist's job is to match buy and sell orders using open outcry. If a spread exists, no trade immediately takes place—in this case the specialist should use his/her own resources (money or stock) to close the difference after his/her judged time. Once a trade has been made the details are reported on the "tape" and sent back to the brokerage firm, which then notifies the investor who placed the order. Although there is a significant amount of human contact in this process, computers play an important role, especially for so-called "program trading".

The NASDAQ is a virtual listed exchange, where all of the trading is done over a computer network. The process is similar to the New York Stock Exchange. However, buyers and sellers are electronically matched. One or more NASDAQ market makers will always provide a bid and ask price at which they will always purchase or sell 'their' stock.[5]

The Paris Bourse, now part of Euronext, is an order-driven, electronic stock exchange. It was automated in the late 1980s. Prior to the 1980s, it consisted of an open outcry exchange. Stockbrokers met on the trading floor or the Palais Brongniart. In 1986, the CATS trading systemwas introduced, and the order matching process was fully automated.

From time to time, active trading (especially in large blocks of securities) have moved away from the 'active' exchanges. Securities firms, led by UBS AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Credit Suisse Group, already steer 12 percent of U.S. security trades away from the exchanges to their internal systems. That share probably will increase to 18 percent by 2010 as more investment banks bypass the NYSE and NASDAQ and pair buyers and sellers of securities themselves, according to data compiled by Boston-based Aite Group LLC, a brokerage-industry consultant.[6]

Now that computers have eliminated the need for trading floors like the Big Board's, the balance of power in equity markets is shifting. By bringing more orders in-house, where clients can move big blocks of stock anonymously, brokers pay the exchanges less in fees and capture a bigger share of the $11 billion a year that institutional investors pay in trading commissions.

Stock market

A stock market or equity market is a public entity (a loose network of economic transactions, not a physical facility or discrete entity) for the trading of company stock (shares) and derivatives at an agreed price; these aresecurities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.

The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion at the beginning of October 2008.[1]The total world derivatives market has been estimated at about $791 trillion face or nominal value,[2] 11 times the size of the entire world economy.[3] The value of the derivatives market, because it is stated in terms ofnotional values, cannot be directly compared to a stock or a fixed income security, which traditionally refers to an actual value. Moreover, the vast majority of derivatives 'cancel' each other out (i.e., a derivative 'bet' on an event occurring is offset by a comparable derivative 'bet' on the event not occurring). Many such relatively illiquid securities are valued as marked to model, rather than an actual market price.

The stocks are listed and traded on stock exchanges which are entities of a corporation or mutual organizationspecialized in the business of bringing buyers and sellers of the organizations to a listing of stocks and securities together. The largest stock market in the United States, by market capitalization, is the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In Canada, the largest stock market is the Toronto Stock Exchange. Major European examples of stock exchanges include the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, Paris Bourse, and the Deutsche Börse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange). In Africa, examples include Nigerian Stock Exchange, JSE Limited, etc. Asian examples include the Singapore Exchange, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the Bombay Stock Exchange. In Latin America, there are such exchanges as the BM&F Bovespa and the BMV.

Market participants include individual retail investors, institutional investors such as mutual funds, banks, insurance companies and hedge funds, and also publicly traded corporations trading in their own shares. Some studies have suggested that institutional investors and corporations trading in their own shares generally receive higher risk-adjusted returns than retail investors.[4]

Market Voices

Buy TCS with a target of Rs 1300 and stop loss of Rs 1144, says Sarvendra Srivastav, independent market analyst, on NDTV Profit. The stock is currently trading at Rs 1207.20, up 1.3% on the BSE. » Send to friends

11:05 AM - The market is trading the first day of a new F&O series on a quiet note. The broader markets are outperforming the largecaps. Sensex is at 17189, up 58 points from its previous close, and Nifty is at 5209, up 20 points. CNX Midcap index is up 0.6% and BSE Smallcapindex is also up 0.6%. The market breadth is positive with advances at 800 against declines of 458 on the NSE. » Send to friends

11:01 AM - Buy Kotak Mahindra Bank with a target of Rs 604 and stop loss of Rs 571, says Deepak Mohoni, technical analyst, on ET Now. The stock is currently trading at Rs 587.50, up 1% on the BSE. » Send to friends

Your Gateway to leading developing market products

The BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are all developing or newly industrialized countries and they are distinguished by their large economies and significant influence on regional and global affairs. Representing almost half of the world's population, global investors are increasingly seeking exposure to these leading developing markets.

The exchanges of the BRICS emerging market bloc have announced a joint initiative to expose investors to products in these dynamic economies. Known as 'BRICSMART', this initiative gives investors easier access to the BRICS markets through benchmark equity index derivatives. These ("the BRICSMART products") are now offered in local currency as they are cross-listed on the exchanges involved - BM &FBOVESPA, MICEX-RTS, BSE Ltd, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

BRICSMART is the ideal way for more investors to gain exposure to the BRICS bloc of emerging economies, with its increasing economic power. Investments in these economies are in demand, as the BRICS countries and financial markets are expected to become increasingly relevant in the coming decade. Apart from cross-listing products, other opportunities will be explored to promote greater development and understanding between the respective markets.

International Program on Securities Market Operations

This five days program for market professionals in the mid to senior levels working in the securities markets provides a unique experience of learning various aspects of the policy and practice. The program is primarily meant for international audience and thus consists of a right mix of class room lectures/presentations, practical /simulation exercises/demonstrations, interface with leading professionals and practitioner and visits to major financial institutions in Mumbai.

rend still intact as long as 5080 doesn't break

Yesterday was a very strange day and an even stranger April series as far as the Nifty is concerned, says Anil Manghnani of Modern Shares & Stock Brokers. The way market chose to close up the April series, the Nifty barely moved 10 points net basis which is kind of strange as you rarely see something like that.

He says volumes in this series were quite low and pathetic. “Even on the last day, the volumes were on the lower side. When was the last time you saw the Nifty so rangebound on the last day without much volatility?”

After the stupendous January-February rally, he doesn’t think most of us would have expected such a dull April month. He guesses the problem still arises as far as stocks are concerned. "It’s the stocks that are grinding lower each time the Nifty tests this 5,200-5,180 range. The damage on the stocks is the main issue," he says.

He finds it a bit disappointing the way the market is grinding down and the way volumes have died and the way stocks are collapsing. “5,135 becomes the first important level that’s the March low and then the 5,080 which is the major support.” The trend is still intact as long as 5,080 doesn’t break, says Manghnani.

gold rates in india

	Cities	Gold (in Rs/Kg)
		Current	Previous	Change(%)
	Chennai	28140.00	28015.00	0.45%
	Mumbai	27760.00	27680.00	0.29%
	Delhi	28260.00	28250.00	0.04%
	Kolkata	28135.00	28135.00	0%