Direction (Qs.1 to 8): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Once a company completes an initial public offering (IPO), its shares become public and can be traded on a stock market. Stock markets are venues where buyers and sellers of shares meet and decide on a price to trade. Some exchanges are physical locations where transactions are carried out on a trading floor, but increasingly the stock exchanges are virtual, composed of networks of computers where trades are made and recorded electronically.

Stock markets are secondary markets, where existing owners of shares can transact with potential buyers. It is important to understand that the corporations listed on stock markets do not buy and sell their own shares on a regular basis (companies may engage in stock buybacks or issue new shares, but these are not day-to-day operations and often occur outside of the framework of an exchange). So when you buy a share of stock on the stock market, you are not buying it from the company, you are buying it from some other existing shareholder. Likewise, when you sell your shares, you do not sell them back to the company- rather you sell them to some other investor.

The first stock markets appeared in Europe in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, mainly in port cities or trading hubs such as Antwerp, Amsterdam, and London. These early stock exchanges, however, were more akin to bond exchanges as the small number of companies did not issue equity. In fact, most early corporations were considered semi-public organizations since they had to be chartered by their government in order to conduct business.

In the late 18^th century, stock markets began appearing in America, notably the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which allowed for equity shares to trade (the honour of the first stock exchange in

America goes to the Philadelphia Stock Exchange [PHLX], which still exists today). The NYSE was founded in 1792 with the signing of the Buttonwood Agreement by 24 New York City stockbrokers and merchants. Prior to this official incorporation, traders and brokers would meet unofficially under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street to buy and sell shares.

 The advent of modern stock markets ushered in an age of regulation and professionalization that now ensures buyers and sellers of shares can trust that their transactions will go through at fair prices and within a reasonable period of time. Today, there are many stock exchanges in the U.S. and throughout the world, many of which are linked together electronically. This in turn means markets are more efficient and more liquid.

The prices of shares on a stock market can be set in a number of ways, but the most common way is through an auction process where buyers and sellers place bids and offers to buy or sell. A bid is the price at which somebody wishes to buy, and an offer (or ask) is the price at which somebody wishes to sell. When the “bid” and “ask” coincide, a trade is made.