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About This Quiz
Don't fear this quiz if you aren't a financial whiz -- we're just testing your basic knowledge and throwing in some history here and there. Check it out and see what you know about the stock market!
Where's the oldest stock exchange in the world?
Lyon, France
Barcelona, Spain
Hamburg, Germany
Toulouse, France
Antwerp, Belgium
The Antwerp Bourse opened its doors in 1460 and kept going until 1997.
Geneva, Switzerland
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Where was the first stock exchange in the United States?
Boston, Mass.
New York, N.Y.
Philadelphia, Pa.
New York is where all the action is today, of course, but the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, founded in 1790, predated it by two years.
Washington, D.C.
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The founders of the New York Stock Exchange took inspiration from which country's stock market?
Great Britain
France
Italy
Spain
The value of the dollar had been based on the Spanish real, so the NYSE founders looked to Spain for inspiration for their stock market, too. Long story, but the Spanish real is also the reason for all the fractional stock prices in the NYSE.
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What was the first listed company on the NYSE?
Nationwide Insurance
Prudential
Bank of New York
Shares of the Bank of New York were traded under the fabled buttonwood tree on Wall Street in 1792.
Merrill Lynch
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What's the largest stock exchange in the world, in terms of market capitalization (basically, the total value of all listed companies)?
New York Stock Exchange
The NYSE tops the list here.
Tokyo Stock Exchange
NASDAQ
Bombay Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
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What's the name for the method of communications used by stock traders frantically running around a trading floor and using hand signals?
verbal auction
open outcry
Open outcry is the (perhaps soon-to-be extinct) way to communicate transactions through shouting and hand signals.
hand dealing
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Which of the following is an example of a defensive stock?
a weapons manufacturer
a utility company
A defensive stock is so named because its value doesn't fluctuate much. So a good example of defensive stock would be utility stocks.
an auto manufacturer
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What does it mean when a trader flashes four fingers parallel to the floor, palm out?
sell four shares
sell nine shares
Palm out means sell. Four fingers at a 90-degree angle indicates nine (four upright fingers would indicate four).
buy four shares
buy nine shares
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What was the first totally electronic stock market?
NASDAQ
NASDAQ has been electronic (meaning, no trading floor) ever since its inception in 1971. All other stock markets have lagged far behind, although they're getting there.
London Stock Exchange
NYSE
Tokyo Stock Exchange
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How many companies are in the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
10
30
Very simply put, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is the average stock value of 30 very large, industrial companies.
50
100
130
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Which company is NOT a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
Verizon
Amazon
Amazon.com is a member of the NASDAQ-100, not the Dow Jones.
Hewlett-Packard
Wal-Mart
Pfizer
Home Depot
Boeing
American Express
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What's the name of the Canadian stock market?
the Canadian Stock Exchange
the Toronto Stock Exchange
Just as in the United States, the Canadian market takes its name from the country's largest city -- Toronto.
the Ottawa Stock Exchange
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What do we call a strong economy -- a bull or bear market?
bull
A bull market indicates a strong economy.
bear
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Who directed the 1983 movie, "Trading Places"?
John Landis
This commodity broker commedy was directed by John Landis.
Ivan Reitman
Dan Akroyd
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Is insider trading ever legal?
yes
You usually hear about the illegal kind of insider trading, but it can be legal. Employees buy and sell stock in the companies they work for all the time, and that's technically insider trading.
no
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When is insider trading illegal?
When a company employee makes a certain percentage profit from selling stock in a company he or she works for.
When a company employee makes a trade using private knowledge that can affect the company's stock price.
It doesn't matter if the insider knowledge positively or negatively impacts the company's stock price -- if an employee acts on it, it's illegal. Same goes for spouses, friends, bankers, lawyers, etc.
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Which act, created in 2002, seeks to cut down on insider trading by (among other things) banning all trades of a company's stock during certain "blackout windows"?
the Sarbanne-Toxley Act
the Sorbonne-Foxley Act
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Congress created the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in reaction to the Enron scandal. The blackout windows are in effect surrounding major company announcements.
the Sorbanes-Croxley Act
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Which federal agency is responsible for regulating the stock markets?
Federal Trade Commission
Securities and Exchange Commission
The SEC is in charge of the securities industry and the stock markets.
Federal Reserve System
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What "Greed is good" character is Michael Douglas reprising for Oliver Stone?
Dan Gallagher
William Foster
Nick Curran
Gordon Gekko
In the movie "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," Michael Douglas will reprise his role as Gordon Gekko.
Nick Conklin
Bud Fox
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What historic agreement rang in the start of the New York Stock Exchange in 1792?
Buttonhole Agreement
Cottonwool Agreement
Clothespin Agreement
Buttonwood Agreement
The historic Buttonwood Agreement, which was signed by 24 of the most prominent bankers, brokers and merchants of the time, described a plan for trading stocks and securities through a common clearing house.
Cottonclub Agreement
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You Got:
/20
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