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NASDAQ (originally an acronym for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American electronic stock exchange. It was founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD).
Just as the economies of the Asia-Pacific region are diverse, so are its bond markets. The level and direction of development varies significantly—from Japan's huge and highly advanced but largely domestic-focused market to Thailand's small but rapidly developing market.

It is owned and operated by The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) which was listed on its own stock exchange in 2002. NASDAQ is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities market in the United States. With 3,361 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. The current chief executive is Robert Greenfield.

History

NASDAQ began trading on February 8, 1971. It is the world's first electronic stock market. At first, it was merely a computer bulletin board system and did not actually connect buyers and sellers. NASDAQ was also the first stock market to advertise to the general public, highlighting NASDAQ-traded companies (usually in technology) and closing with the declaration that NASDAQ was "the stock market for the next hundred years".

Until 1987, most trading occurred via the telephone, but during the 1987 market crash, market makers often didn't answer their phones. To counteract this, the Small Order Execution System (SOES) was established, which provides an electronic method for dealers to enter their trades.

The NASDAQ, as an electronic exchange, has no physical trading floor, but makes all its trades through a computer and telecommunications system. The exchange is a dealers' market, meaning brokers buy and sell stocks through a market maker rather than from each other. A market maker deals in a particular stock and holds a certain number of stocks on his own books so that when a broker wants to purchase shares, he can purchase them directly from the market maker.

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* Contributed by: -
Karna Jalan,
1st Year, ICFAI Business School,
Hyderabad