Wall Street is not just the name of a street. Wall Street refers to all of the various financial markets in the United States, and in particular, the stock and bond markets. The actual wall Street is located in the center of the financial district of New York City, where the Stock Exchange is located along with the corporate headquarters of the large, American, financial corporations.

 The American market is a tremendous complex where billions of securities are traded daily.  Millions of investors worldwide buy and sell stocks, bonds, mutual funds, currencies, options and endless other financial instruments in dozens of markets and networks spread across the US.

 To allow investors to trade in a reasonable and sound way, the various markets are supported by computer and communications systems that manage the exchanges from behind the scenes.

The market has a central part in the functioning of the American economy and considered by many Americans as the national treaure of the United States.

Wall Street has a long history of highs and lows, crises, bubbles, frauds, panics and more. What happens in America has immediate and far-reaching implications on the investment markets across the world.

 In this chapter we will begin our orientation with Wall Street. We will present the various financial markets that exist in the US and the variety of goods that are traded there.