The NASDAQ Stock Market, commonly known as the NASDAQ (currently stylized as Nasdaq), is an American/Canadian stock exchange. It is the second-largest exchange in the world by market capitalization, behind only the New York Stock Exchange.
The exchange platform is owned by The NASDAQ OMX Group, which also owns the OMX stock market network and several other US stock and options exchanges.
In 1972, NASDAQ stood for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations. NASDAQ was founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), which divested itself of NASDAQ in a series of sales in 2000 and 2001. NASDAQ is owned and operated by The NASDAQ OMX Group, the stocks of which were listed on its own stock exchange beginning July 2, 2002, under the ticker symbol NDAQ.
When the NASDAQ began trading on February 8, 1971, it was the world’s first electronic stock market. At first, it was merely a quotation system and did not provide a way to perform electronic trades. The NASDAQ helped lower the spread (the difference between the bid price and the ask price of the stock) but was unpopular among brokerages which made much of their money on the spread.
NASDAQ eventually assumed the majority of major trades formerly executed by the over-the-counter (OTC) system of trading, although there are still numerous securities traded in this fashion. As late as 1987, the NASDAQ exchange was still commonly referred to as “OTC” in media and also in the monthly Stock Guides issued by Standard & Poor’s Corporation.
Over the years, NASDAQ became more of a stock market by adding trade and volume reporting and automated trading systems. NASDAQ was also the first stock market in the United States to start trading online, highlighting NASDAQ-traded companies (usually in technology) and closing with the declaration that NASDAQ is “the stock market for the next hundred years.” Its main index is the NASDAQ Composite, which has been published since its inception. However, its exchange-traded fund tracks the large-cap NASDAQ-100 index, which was introduced in 1985 alongside the NASDAQ 100 Financial Index.
Until 1987, most trading occurred via the telephone. During the October 1987 stock market crash, however, market makers often did not answer their phones. To remedy this, the Small Order Execution System (SOES) was established. SOES provides an electronic method for dealers to enter their trades. NASDAQ requires market makers to honor trades executed using SOES.
In 1992, NASDAQ joined with the London Stock Exchange to form the first intercontinental linkage of securities markets. The National Association of Securities Dealers spun off NASDAQ in 2000 to form a publicly traded company, the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc.
In 2006, the status of NASDAQ was changed from a stock market to a licensed national securities exchange.
To qualify for listing on the exchange, a company must be registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), must have at least three market makers(financial firms that act as brokers or dealers for specific securities) and must meet minimum requirements for assets, capital, public shares, and shareholders.
In February 2011, in the wake of an announced merger of NYSE Euronext with Deutsche Börse, speculation developed that NASDAQ OMX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) could mount a counter-bid of their own for NYSE. NASDAQ OMX could be looking to acquire the American exchange’s cash equities business, ICE the derivatives business. As of the time of the speculation, “NYSE Euronext’s market value was $9.75 billion. Nasdaq was valued at $5.78 billion, while ICE was valued at $9.45 billion.” Late in the month, Nasdaq was reported to be considering asking either ICE or the Chicago Merc to join in what would probably have to be, if it proceeded, an $11–12 billion counterbid.
The European Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (EASDAQ) was founded originally as a European equivalent to NASDAQ. It was purchased by NASDAQ in 2001 and became NASDAQ Europe. Operations were shut down, however, as a result of the burst of the dot-com bubble. In 2007,
NASDAQ
Europe was revived as Equiduct, and is currently operating under Börse Berlin.
On June 18, 2012, NASDAQ became a founding member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative on the eve of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).
In 2013, NASDAQ OMX was approached by private equity firm Carlyle Group about taking the exchange operator private, but the talks fell apart over a disagreement on price.
BREAKING DOWN ‘Nasdaq’
Nasdaq officially separated from the NASD and began to operate as a national securities exchange in 2006. In 2007, it combined with the Scandinavian exchange group OMX to become the Nasdaq OMX group, which is the largest exchange company globally, powering 1 in 10 of the world’s securities transactions. Headquartered in New York, Nasdaq OMX operates 26 markets – primarily equities, and also including options, fixed income, derivatives and commodities – as well as three clearinghouses and five central securities depositories in the U.S. and Europe. Its cutting-edge trading technology is used by 70 exchanges in 50 countries. It is listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol NDAQ and has been part of the S&P 500 since 2008.
The Nasdaq computerized trading system was initially devised as an alternative to the inefficient “specialist” system, which had been the prevalent model for almost a century. The rapid evolution of technology has made the Nasdaq’s electronic trading model the standard for markets worldwide.
As a leader in trading technology from the outset, it was only fitting that the world’s technology giants chose to list on the Nasdaq in their early days. As the technology sector grew in prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, the Nasdaq became the most widely followed proxy for this sector. The technology and dot-com boom and bust of the late 1990s is exemplified by the rise and fall of the Nasdaq Composite during this period. The index crossed the 1,000 mark for the first time in July 1995, soared in the following years and peaked at over 4,500 in March 2000, before slumping almost 80% by October 2002 in the subsequent correction.