NYSE American (AMEX) Stock Exchange Prices

The American Stock Exchange now known as NYSE American, formerly AMEX, is the third-largest stock exchange in the United States in terms of the trading volume. NYSE Euronext acquired AMEX in 2008 and it is currently referred to as NYSE American. A majority of trades executed on the platform consists of index options (major market index, institutional index, computer technology index) and shares of small to medium-sized companies.

Over the years, the AMEX developed a reputation as an exchange that introduced and traded new products and asset classes. For instance, in 1975 it launched its options market. Options are a kind of derivative security that grants the holder the right to buy or sell an asset at a price set on or before a certain date.

History of NYSE American

The NYSE American dates back to the 18th century when the trading market in America was still in its infancy stage. The lack of formalized exchange back then compelled the stockbroker to meet in coffeehouses and on the street to trade securities. This is the reason why the NYSE American was once known as the New York Curb Exchange. They specialized in trading stocks of emerging companies. This kind of trading was informal and in 1908, the New York Curb Market Agency was instituted to introduce some standard rules and regulations to the trading practices.

The exchange has grown over the years with more and more emerging businesses trading their stocks on the New York Curb Exchange. The value of companies listed on the exchange doubled between 1950 and 1960. In 1971, it was the second-largest stock exchange in the US.

Under the name AMEX, the NYSE American exchange was once the larger competitor of the NYSE but over time NASDAQ took the position. It also introduced the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) in 1993. The ETF is quite a popular investment today and is a kind of security that tracks an index or a basket of assets. These function similarly to mutual funds but differ in that that they trade like stocks. Over time, the exchange gained the reputation for listing companies that failed to meet the stringent requirements set by NYSE. Today, a major portion of trading on this fully electronic exchange happens in small-cap stocks.