Glossary
Stock exchange
A regulated marketplace where shares of listed companies and often other securities are bought and sold, and where the resulting prices are published.
Updated September 15, 2026
A stock exchange is a regulated marketplace where shares of companies, and often other securities, are bought and sold. It brings buy and sell orders together, matches them, and publishes the resulting prices.
You do not trade on an exchange yourself. If you place an order for 10 shares through a brokerage account, an account at a registered brokerage firm that trades for customers, the firm routes it to an exchange or another venue. In the United States, exchanges that serve the public register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and regular trading hours run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Companies must meet an exchange's requirements to have their shares listed. A listing is no guarantee about the company: it can lose value, and the exchange does not protect you from losses.
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How this definition was made
- Written by an AI model (Claude) following Teloria's editorial standard.
- Every factual claim was checked by a separate AI fact-check against official US government and regulator sources.
Official sources consulted
- sec.gov · /about/divisions-offices/division-trading-markets/national-securities-exchanges
- sec.gov · /files/34-97309.pdf
- sec.gov · /about/reports-publications/investorpubstradexec
- investor.gov · /introduction-investing/investing-basics/investment-accounts/brokerage-accounts
- investor.gov · /introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary/national-securities-exchange
- investor.gov · /introduction-investing/investing-basics/glossary/after-hours-trading