Just as the newspaper doesn't own the goods or provide the services it advertises, a stock exchange doesn't own the stocks and bonds it lists. Public corporations choose to list their stocks and bonds with an exchange for the same reason you might choose to take out a classified ad: the listings draw a steady pool of interested buyers and sellers, or investors. Investors "shop" for stocks and bonds at a stock exchange for the same reason you might read the classified section: they can pick and choose from a long list of competitively priced products.
             A brief history of the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest equities market, reveals how the modern stock market first emerged to help a new government-the United States of America-pay off its debts. It then grew and developed to meet the needs of both public corporations seeking capital and investors seeking profits.
             In 1790, there were only two types of securities to trade: Revolutionary War bonds that the newly formed American government sold to pay off an $80 million war debt, and shares of stock in the first national bank, called the Bank of the United States.
             Stock brokers, merchants and auctioneers bought and sold these stocks and bonds in offices, coffee houses, marketplaces and other locations on and around Wall Street. Without a set location and time for trading, sellers and buyers had to search for each other all over town. In technical terms, this stock market was not very liquid, meaning sales and purchases of stocks were not quick and easy.
             On May 17, 1792, 24 Wall Street brokers solved the problem of liquidity at the stroke of a pen. They agreed, in writing, to trade only with each other. Thus, the world's largest stock exchange began humbly with a simple two-sentence document called the Buttonwood Agreement. The agreement was named after the brokers' informal meeting place-under a Buttonwood tree at 68 Wall Street
             If you've worked hard to save up som...