The AMEX is a stock exchange, which is a place where securities can be bought or sold. The AMEX happens to be the third-largest stock exchange in the U.S. and it's a private intentionally non-profit company.
About 15% of all trades in the U.S. are made through the AMEX, and its competitive brethren are NYSE and NASDAQ.
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What is The Securities Amendmen...9 Views
finance a la shmoop what is the Securities Amendments Act of 1975
alright people before 1975 we're thinking Nixon era here trading stocks [People greeting Nixon]
was very much a regional thing New York was the Sun and the rest of the world
well more or less just orbited the 1975 Act created a national market clearing [Countries orbiting galaxy]
system so that a share of IBM traded for generally the same price in California
Georgia New Hampshire and New York this way smaller less liquid regional systems [US states appear beside IBM]
or regional pieces or regional trading bins weren't penalized with higher
transaction costs than you know those suit-and-tie wearing wolves on Wall [Transaction costs crossed out]
Street and that's pretty much it that's what the 1975 securities Amendment Act
was all about basically it just was passed to ensure that the SEC would
consider any new regulation that might come down the pike from that point
forward in terms of fairness across a level playing field [Moving through a tunnel]
nationally yeah fairness or the wind [Football player placing football on the field]
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