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The US stock market has a long history dotted with a lot of ups and downs. The stock market is made up of two exchanges - the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations system (NASDAQ).

The market capitalization of the New York Stock Exchange is in trillions of dollars and is the highest in the world. Over a hundred and fifty years old, the NYSE has also the largest volume of shares traded in the world measured in dollars. However, if volumes are only considered, the New York Stock Exchange comes in second place, after the NASDAQ.

The US Stock market offers a convenient means by which a common stock holder can trade in stocks, by easily buying and selling them. Such trading is done electronically in both exchanges, and also on the trading floor in the case of the NYSE. Direct trading on the floor of the exchange is restricted to members or "seat" owners. The seats are limited in number and are much sought after. You have to pay a price in order to become a seat owner. Currently the price is around $4 million.

An index of stocks reflects the general trend in the prices of stocks. Each major stock exchange has an index constructed from the prices of significant stocks that are quoted and traded in the exchange. The NASDAQ index, the Dow Jones index and the S&P index are the three most important indices in the US. These indices are further enlarged to include stocks of all major sectors in order to indicate sector wise trends.

In order to denote the stocks, stock exchanges use stock symbols. These symbols are mainly short forms of the company names. You can easily search the current quotes, history and trends of any company on the stock exchange web sites, provide you know the symbols.

The fascinating history of the US stock market is quite revealing. One momentous event in the past was the crash of 1929. This Black Tuesday is believed to be the most terrible day in the annals of the US stock market. The extent of selling on this day was the biggest ever in a single day. More than $100 billion of investor assets were reduced in this crash. In current money terms this would be worth a hundred time more today.

If you have some spare money that you would like to invest stocks form a good option. There are several avenues available for people who may not have the expertise to manage their own investments. These include invest stocks and mutual fund companies. Although these organizations generally manage the investments professionally, all are not equally good. You should make your own inquiries before investing through any of them.