Exchange Floor

Trading stocks. You hear that phrase all the time, although it really is wrong – you don’t trade stocks like baseball cards (I’ll trade you 100 IBMs for 100 Intels).

Trade = Buy or Sell

To “trade” means to buy and sell in the jargon of the financial markets. How a system that can accommodate one billion shares trading in a single day works is a mystery to most people. No doubt, our financial markets are marvels of technological efficiency.