User:Schmidtchuck/Draft of article for Electronic Stock Market

Electronic Stock Market is a system of securities exchange transactions where trades between buyers and sellers of stocks and derivatives occur directly and immediately (and electronically), rather than through traditional (physical) stock exchange transactions involving brokers and floor traders.

For the past two centuries, the trading of securities has usually taken place at a physical location, for example the New York Stock Exchange on Wall St. in Manhattan, New York City. These transactions usually occur only during the defined business hours (trading hours) of the exchange.

As automation continues to advance and the Internet has become more pervasive, stock trading has become a more "on demand" activity, occurring at any time on any day. These trades are known as "over the counter" or OTC trades.

The NASDAQ and Euronext Paris are examples of electronic, order-driven stock exchanges.