NASDAQ

The Nasdaq Stock Market or NASDAQ is an American stock exchange. It trails only the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in market capitalization and is part of a network of stock markets and options exchanges.

Launched back in 1971, NASDAQ is the acronym for the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations.

Since then it is known simply as NASDAQ and has become one of the most influential exchanges worldwide.

The NASDAQ was the world’s first electronic stock market, and has since assumed the majority of major trades that had been executed by the over-the-counter (OTC) system of trading.

What Makes Up the NASDAQ?

In particular, the exchange also features the NASDAQ Composite, which includes almost all stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock market.

Along with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIJA) and S&P 500 Index, this is one of the three most-followed stock market indices in the United States.

Overall, the NASDAQ stock market has three different market tiers. This includes the Capital Market, or an equity market for companies that have relatively small levels of market capitalization.

The listing requirements for small cap companies are less stringent than for other Nasdaq markets that list larger companies with significantly higher market capitalization.

Additionally, the Global Market is made up of stocks that represent the Nasdaq Global Market.

The Global Market consists of 1,450 stocks that meet the exchange’s financial and liquidity requirements, and corporate governance standards.

Finally, the Global Select Market is a market capitalization-weighted index made up of 1,200 US-based and international stocks that represent the Global Select Market Composite.