As we know, money makes the world go round. Cold hard cash is still an incredible predictor of power, influence and success. Nowhere is this phenomenon more evident than in the world of stocks, where individual traders are able to place bets on which companies they think will succeed and fail, often putting their money on the line in hopes of getting an investment that will give them huge profits.
Stock markets are places where both individual and institutional investors come to buy and sell shares in the open. These stocks are priced based on supply and demand.
Stock exchanges, meanwhile, are secondary markets where people who already own shares can transact with potential buyers rather than directly with the company itself. There are many exchanges in the world that operate freely, and today we will talk about the most famous and large ones, with several of them standing out as global trading centers.
NYSE – New York Stock Exchange.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the single largest stock exchange in the world, at least by market capitalization, a figure obtained by multiplying the stock price of a listed company by the number of shares of that company's shares outstanding. The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange now goes by the nickname NYSE Euronext, having merged with the European Exchange Group in 2007.
For a long period of time, the New York Stock Exchange traded primarily in face-to-face interactions on the trading floor, so the media portrayed crowded trading floors with people screaming to buy and sell. Nowadays, with the advent of modern technology, the NYSE has moved to a hybrid model where trades can be executed on the floor or electronically. As a result, more than 50% of transactions are completed through electronic channels.
How the auction works
After an investor submits an order to purchase financial instruments to a broker, it seems that the papers have been deposited into the account and here it is, the desired ownership of Elon Musk’s business. In reality this is a little different. Settlements for foreign securities take place in the T+2 mode - this means that settlements for transactions take place on the second trading day from the moment the transaction is made. If you buy 1 Tesla share, it will immediately be reflected in your personal account in the broker’s application. The money for it is reserved in the account immediately, but the depository will take into account the shareholder’s rights already on the second trading day.
Main trading in foreign securities on the St. Petersburg Exchange begins at 10:00 Moscow time and ends at 02:00 of the next calendar day. For some securities, transactions can be completed before 1:45. This is due to the time difference with the United States and the characteristics of the country. For example, there is no trading on American public holidays. This was the case on February 15, 2022 - President’s Day, which is celebrated every third Monday in February, fell on this date - then trading in American securities was not carried out. Information about the trading schedule can be found on the website of the St. Petersburg Exchange in a special section.
In the first half of the day, transaction volumes are formed only by Russian issuers. From 14:30 to 23:00 Moscow time, American market participants are added to the trading. This time coincides with the opening hours of US exchanges. When the United States switches to winter time, the trading period with additional liquidity moves forward by an hour.
Liquidity is a property of securities. Securities with high liquidity can be sold at any time at a price close to the market price.
Market makers and professional participants in the securities market maintain the liquidity of securities. It is market makers who, by placing orders, create additional liquidity. The purchase and sale of securities of foreign companies is carried out in foreign currency. In order to buy securities in the Gazprombank Investments application, you first need to buy dollars into your brokerage account and then use them to buy securities.
NASDAQ Exchange.
NASDAQ, which originally stood for the National Association of Automated Securities Dealers Quotation System, was founded in 1971 and became one of the world's first electronic stock markets. The uniqueness provided listings for many stocks not found on other exchanges at the time, leading to an association with technology companies. This association is not entirely unfounded, since it unites many technology giants such as Apple, Microsoft and Intel. Today it is the second largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, right on the heels of the New York Stock Exchange.
Unlike the New York Stock Exchange, all trading on the NASDAQ is conducted digitally, giving the exchange higher trading volume than any other electronic stock exchange in the world. NASDAQ also stands out for its size, with 3,800 companies listed, ranging from small-cap (that is, smaller market capitalization) to large-cap companies.
What can you buy
On the St. Petersburg Exchange you can trade more than 1,500 instruments, including foreign securities and Eurobonds. The commodity market is available on the exchange: from construction materials to aquatic biological resources and their processed products. Russian securities are currently represented in a smaller volume than we see on the Moscow Exchange. Only investors who have confirmed their qualifications, for example, having proven experience in exchange trading, professional education or a certain amount in the account, can buy or sell ETFs on the St. Petersburg Exchange.
Over-the-Counter Market (OTC Market) and Pink Sheets.
It is not actually an exchange, but rather a place where companies that are not listed on a stock exchange trade. Companies trading on the over-the-counter market are typically smaller in size and are often referred to as penny stocks.
Stocks traded on the over-the-counter market are considered riskier because they do not meet the requirements to be listed on a stock exchange. There are two different markets for over-the-counter stocks: the Over-the-Counter Classifieds Market (OTCBB) and the Over-the-Counter Market (formerly Pink Sheets).
The OTC Markets is not a stock exchange, but rather a company that facilitates the exchange of securities between qualified independent brokers. You can find a variety of penny stocks here, many of which tend to be thinly liquid micro-cap companies.
Rating of cryptocurrency exchanges - The best and most reliable Crypto exchanges for 2022, Top 10
The best cryptocurrency exchanges – what is their value?
This top would not exist if at least one service could fulfill traders’ requests without reserve.
Consider your goals and strategy for working with currency. One company supports a large number of currency pairs, but cannot provide fiat money; other cryptocurrency exchanges have a wide range of security systems in stock, but require a long wait for withdrawal. Among the fundamental criteria, we recommend relying on the following points:
1. Security. After transferring money, you completely trust “someone” with it, perhaps the portal developers. Are you ready to say goodbye to your entire money portfolio for the sake of a reduced commission on an unknown portal?
2. Commission size. Yes, don’t forget to look at this indicator, because we need a “golden mean” both in terms of safety and in terms of spending money on operations. There is no point in protecting money that will not be left from large commissions.
3. How much money does the exchange make per day? This factor is one of the most important, because only a successful and popular company will be able to trade not just some $100, but tens of times more than this threshold, which leads to an increase in your income.
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The above points are only superficial; you still need to start from specific cases. That is why below we will look at several illustrative examples of good exchanges, and at the very beginning we will single out a champion among the entire Runet.
Ready? Then let's move on!
Binance is an incomparable champion
The undisputed industry leader at the moment. Binance is the only major exchange that has not yet been hacked! Trading volumes are also amazing. In 24 hours they reached 23 billion dollars - the largest Russian cryptocurrency exchange was able to achieve such success in just 4 years or even a little less.
The cryptocurrency exchange website features support for 21 languages, tens of millions of users visit the site every day, they do not worry about their funds, because even if they do not have them, the service will provide stable leverage of up to 125x. Is this not enough for you?
Then we present margin trading, commissions from 0.1%, several models of trading between users, basic and professional spot trading, 4 types of orders, a full-fledged affiliate program, there is an API, DEX and a whole list of other features. You will be surprised, but this portal has only one drawback - rare freezes due to too large an influx of users.
KuCoin
A young project that was created in 2022, but has already been able to rise to a high level and reach daily sales of up to a billion dollars. However, user trust was achieved from the very beginning thanks to an enhanced security system, which not only “seems to exist”, but constantly cleans the listing, removes potentially dangerous coins, gives the user security advice, and is generally updated frequently.
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An undoubted advantage of the Bitcoin crypto exchange is the prompt technical support, which can solve your problem in a minute. Support hours are 16 hours a day, 7 days a week from 8am. Not bad, right?
Speaking of technical indicators: the number of trading pairs of the crypto exchange is 516 units, there is the possibility of anonymous trading, withdrawal within 10 minutes after creating an order and the privileges of KCS tokens. Among the significant disadvantages, we note the lack of trading in traditional currencies and the inability to use leverage.
OKEx
The foundation of the platform took place back in 2014, when, not without incident, the exchange began to reach the top of its rating thanks to the increased number of currency pairs and various types of trading.
For more than 5 years, the company has grown even stronger, and now offers you the following:
- Ability to work with clients in more than 10 countries. No matter how pretentious it may sound, you have more than 11 languages at your disposal, including Russian localization;
- More than 360 currency pairs and about 140 coins;
- Minimum commissions. Working with the service is profitable, because tens of thousands of transactions take place here every day, each offering reduced commissions. For deposits they are generally absent;
- Several trading options. Currently, more than 30 different currencies are supported, the greatest emphasis is placed on spot and futures trading, options trading has recently opened;
- More than 7 types of orders, including limit, stop-limit, iceberg order and other types, which can be found on the official website.
The list of advantages is wide, but we note one significant disadvantage - some functions of the service can only be used by residents of China.
Therefore, you will either have to find a new home or use the opportunities that are open. However, the service even in this situation will surprise you. EXMO
Buying cryptocurrency here means becoming a member of an international trading platform, the operating time of which is approaching 10 years and does not even plan to stop there. The portal has offices in Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Turkey, has an official license and supports more than 13 languages, including Russian.
Reliable crypto exchanges – this is the category that the portal falls into. It has been confidently standing on the market for many years and boasts a well-functioning technical component - there are 8 fiat currencies, the ability to quickly exchange money, transactions are carried out with a minimum commission and with maximum transaction processing speed. Among the features, we note the presence of its own token and special gifts for its owners, a separate system of quick deposits, where there are no commission rates. It even has all the tools for professional traders, not to mention additional features.
The service is highly automated, and this is part of its drawback.
Long responses from support – you have to put up with this, otherwise we recommend the portal. Huobi Global
One of the largest companies in our ranking, because literally today the sales volume on the platform is approximately 12.5 billion dollars and it’s not evening yet! In this case, almost everything turned out to be ideal, because marketers tried very hard to promote only the product being developed and already finished, they managed to attract a lot of traffic from Europe, buy out several large operating exchanges and appropriate their clients for themselves. Subsequently, the portal became even better and now it accommodates more than 12 languages from all over the planet, opens real offices in the largest capitals of the world, allows you to trade without account confirmation in anonymous mode, has both professional and automated working mechanisms that you can understand even a beginner.
Among the particularly subtle ones, we note the system for evaluating blockchain assets, margin trading, storing user funds in cold multi-signature wallets, and an increased security system against hacking and DDoS attacks.
Of the minuses, let's say again about the limited functionality for those who do not live in China. When going through account verification, be prepared for a very long and complex preparation - you will have to worry a lot. Summing up
The rating of cryptocurrency exchanges we presented shows not only which services are currently at the peak of their popularity. You have just learned what factors can be used to determine the reliability of a service, how to choose an exchange yourself, and what makes trading champions stand out. We recommend trying all the platforms presented in the list, because each of them can offer something profitable and unique.
Chinese stock exchanges.
Shanghai Stock Exchange – The Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) is located in Shanghai, China. It is the second largest stock exchange in Asia, with over 860 companies listed, and the fifth largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization of $4 trillion as of 2022.
Hong Kong Stock Exchange – The Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) is located in Hong Kong, China. It is the third largest stock exchange in Asia after the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the sixth largest in the world. As of 2022, there were 1,420 companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a combined market capitalization of $3.5 trillion.
Other major world exchange platforms
The JSE Johannesburg Stock Exchange, located in Africa, is considered less large and takes one of the last places in the ranking. Here the assets of companies involved in the extraction of gold and precious stones are traded. It has one important feature - trading is conducted out loud, and only after that the results are recorded using an electronic system.
The Taiwanese stock exchange is also considered the largest stock exchange in the world, but it is just beginning to develop and does not yet have an impact on the global economy. Madrid is the main exchange platform in Spain. Conducts all types of trading, but has not yet achieved high positions in the world rankings.
Japanese Stock Exchange.
Tokyo Stock Exchange – Tokyo Stock Exchange (JPX).
It is the third largest stock exchange in the world based on the total market capitalization of its listed companies and the largest in Asia. As of December 2022, there were 2,500 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of 4.5 trillion. dollars.
Shares listed on the TSE are divided into three sections: Section One for large companies, Section Two for mid-sized companies and the Mother (High Growth and Emerging Shares Market) section for high-growth start-up companies.
Russia.
Moscow Stock Exchange – Moscow stock Exchange.
The Moscow Exchange MOEX is the largest Russian exchange, founded in 2011 as a result of a merger with the MICEX (Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange) and the RTS exchange (Russian Trading System). Over the past few years, the Moscow Exchange has attracted more and more private investors, resulting in a total number of investors in 2022 of almost 9 million.
Total capitalization 49 trillion. rub. as of 2022.
