Define the American Stock Exchange
- The American Stock Exchange began rather informally with trading of shares on the streetcorner in the 1830s. It wasn't until 1908 that its trading practices became codified and it became known as the New York Curb Market Agency.
- The primary purpose of the New York Curb Market Agency was to provide a trading venue for shares that were unable to meet the standards of the New York Stock Exchange. This meant that the shares were of smaller, more risky companies, and this occasionally led to allegations of stock manipulation. It wasn't until 1953 that the New York Curb Market Agency became the American Stock Exchange.
- In a bid to find trading vehicles less subject to manipulation, the American Stock Exchange developed exchange traded funds (ETFs). ETFs could be based on an index and were therefore harder to manipulate. In January, 2008, the AMEX was acquired by a consortium of exchanges headed by its lifelong rival, the NYSE. In October of that year it became the NYSE Amex, which is recognized as a self-regulatory organization by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In terms of trading volume it ranks as the third-largest stock exchange in the United States, handling about 10 percent of all trades.
