The stock market, in its most basic form, is the place where buyers and sellers come together to trade stocks. Now, of course, there isn't one single place where all of the world's buyers and all of the world's sellers come together, but figuratively, that's what the stock market is.
The stock market creates efficiency. Can you imagine what you would have to do if you wanted to buy shares of General Electric (GE) stock if there were no stock market? You would have to call around from person to person, asking if they had any shares of GE stock they would like to sell. Then once you found someone who did have shares and was willing to sell them, you would have to haggle over the price. Mercifully, because of the stock market, we don't have to do that.
Video: The Stock Market
Now that you've got the basics of what the stock market is, check out the video below and see what else you can learn about the stock market at the whiteboard.
Taking Your Next Step
Once you're comfortable with full-service brokers, it's time to move on and learn about the Stock Market Participants.
