exchange

Exchange

A marketplace in which shares, options and futures on stocks, bonds, commodities, and indexes are traded. Principal U.S. stock exchanges are: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (Nasdaq).

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exchange

See securities exchange.

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exchange

See swap.

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Exchange

A place, whether physical or electronic, where stocks, bonds, and/or derivatives in listed companies are bought and sold. An exchange may be a private company, non-profit, or publicly-traded company (some exchanges have shares that trade on their own floors). An exchange provides a regulated place where brokers and companies may meet in order to make investments on neutral ground. The concept traces its roots back to medieval France and the Low Countries, where agricultural goods were traded for cash or debt. Most countries have a main exchange and many also have smaller, regional exchanges. An exchange is also called a bourse or a stock exchange.

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Exchange. Traditionally, an exchange has been a physical location for trading securities. Trading is handled, at least in part, by an open outcry or dual auction system.

Two examples in the United States are the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which has the largest trading floor in the world, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).

However, the definition is evolving. Traditional exchanges handle an increasing number of trades electronically, off the floor. Nasdaq and other totally electronic securities markets, without trading floors, have exchange status.

As a result, the terms exchange and market are being used interchangeably to mean any environment in which listed products are traded.

The term exchange also refers to the act of moving assets from one fund to another in the same fund family or from one variable annuity subaccount to another offered through the same contract.

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exchange

Parties may exchange like-kind properties and not pay any income taxes at the time of the exchange but, instead, defer them until the later sale of the exchanged property. See 1031 exchange.

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Exchange

A transfer of property for other property or services. Some exchanges produce currently taxable income while others can be structured so as to defer any tax liability.