The United States first securities exchange formed in 1790, dwelled as the Philadelphia

Stock Exchange. More stock exchanges began to emerge shortly after the birth of the first stock
exchange (Ritchie). Despite the existence of numerous stock exchanges in Chicago, Kansas
City, and other major centers, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and National Association of
Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) are the most recognizable and powerful
U.S stock exchanges. NYSE emerged in 1792, while NASDAQ respectively came about in 1971
(Britannica). NYSE formulated when 24 men met at where we call Wall Street today. It was
formerly known as the New York Stock and Exchange Board until its change in 1817
(Britannica). Ownership of the exchange was severely controlled by the NYSE members.
NASDAQ was formed by the National Association of Securities dealers (Britannica). Trading
immediately began within the year of its emergence. In 2000, NASD transformed NASDAQ into
its current state, a publicly traded company.
The New York Stock Exchange stands to be the world's largest stock exchange with a
market capitalization of (NYX) It is physically located in downtown Manhattan. It is
essentially an auction market, where buyers and sellers trade shares of public trading stocks.
Each listed stock on the NYSE has a specialist who is hired by the NYSE member firm
(Amadeo). He or she not only acts as the auctioneer to bring matching buyers and sellers, but
intervenes in case of market troubles. In the past year, NYSE has merged with Intercontinental
Exchange (ICE), worth a $10.9 billion deal (McCrank). It has merged the energy and commodity
futures exchange with NYSE.
Unlike the NYSE, NASDAQ presides in an automated exchange market. It executes
trades right over the Internet. NASDAQ operates as an dealer market, where buyers and sellers
make transactions through a market maker. In order to make a trade, a stock broker must either
call the market maker or enter the trade onto the online system (NASDAQ). The market maker
must upload his prices for buying and selling. The system then will match up the buyers and
sellers to execute trades. NASDAQ is under the ownership of the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
The NASDAQ OMX group is a multinational financial services corporation who also operates
eight European stock exchanges (NASDAQ OMX).
NASDQ first requires corporations to meet the listing requirements for all companies. In
order to qualify, a company needs to have a minimum of 1.25 million publicly shares. The
stocks must have a minimum of three market makers, along with a $4 regular bid price
(NASDAQ). Moreover, the company must meet at least one of NASDAQ's three listing
standards. The first listing standard mandates that there should be at least $ 11 million in
aggregate pre-tax earnings within the past three years (Investopedia). The past two years ,the
earnings had to be at least $2.2 million, as well as no net loss in any year. Secondly, the company
has an aggregate cash flow, starting from $27.5 million for the past three years (NASDAQ).
Average market capitalization must be at $550 million over the past 12 months; the previous
year's revenue stands at a minimum of $110 million (NASDAQ). Finally, the cash flow
requirement may be exemplified if the company's average market capitalization is at least $850
million, with at least $ 90 million in its last year's revenue.
On the other hand, NYSE requires companies to submit a formal request to be listed, along
with a plethora of documents : annual shareholder reports, current 10-K, copies of stock
certificates, proposal of expected stock distribution, and proxy statement of its recent annual
shareholder meeting (NYX). In addition, a minimum of 1.1 million shares must be issued to at
least 400 shareholders. The company's public shares must value at the price of at least $40
million, along with $4 minimum share price (NYX). Furthermore, its aggregate pre-tax
earnings in the prior three years are at $ 10 million; $ million should be earned in the last year.
An alternative allows the company to apply based on its global market capitalization. This must
be at least $500 million, followed with $100 million revenue in the recent year (NYX). There
cannot be any negative cash flow in the last three years.


Bibliography
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25 Mar. 2014.
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