American Stock Exchange (AMEX)

• Full name: American Stock Exchange
• Short name: AMEX
• Stock exchange location: New York
• Year of establishment: 1842
• Number of companies listed for trading at the beginning of 2003: approximately 700

The AMEX is similar to the New York Stock Exchange, but is much smaller. It trades stocks of smaller companies than those traded on the NYSE. In recent years, the AMEX has focused on trading in trailing stocks.

Diagram 5 shows the daily trading volume on the AMEX exchange. Like the NASDAQ, the AMEX has flourished in recent decades, but its trading volumes are very low compared to the NYSE and NASDAQ.

Market capitalization of the three major stock exchanges

Diagram 6 shows the evolution of the total market capitalization of companies traded on each of the three major stock exchanges. It can be clearly seen that the stock market boom that began in 1982 and continued almost continuously until 2000 led to a sharp increase in the market capitalization of companies.

Regional Exchanges

In addition to the three major stock exchanges – NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX, several regional stock exchanges operate in the US. Each regional stock exchange focuses on trading in stocks of companies based in the same geographic area, but they also trade stocks that are traded concurrently on the major stock exchanges.

The important regional stock exchanges are:

• The Boston Stock Exchange
• The Chicago Stock Exchange
• The Cincinnati Stock Exchange
• The Pacific Exchange
• The Philadelphia Stock Exchange