Stock exchange

A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourseexchange) was 'invented' in the medieval Low Countries (most notably in predominantly Dutch-speaking cities like Bruges and Antwerp) before the birth of formal stock exchanges in the 17th century. A pre-VOC bourse was not exactly a formal stock exchange in its modern sense. With the founding of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1602 and the rise of Dutch capital markets in the early 1600s, the 'old' bourse (a place to trade commodities, government and municipal bonds) found a new purpose – a formal exchange that specializes in creating and sustaining secondary markets in the securities (such as bonds and shares of stock) issued by corporations – or a stock exchange as we know it today.|group="note"}} is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds, and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for the issue and redemption of such securities and instruments and capital events including the payment of income and dividends. Securities traded on a stock exchange include stock issued by listed companies, unit trusts, derivatives, pooled investment products and bonds. Stock exchanges often function as "continuous auction" markets with buyers and sellers consummating transactions via open outcry at a central location such as the floor of the exchange or by using an electronic trading platform.