International Exchanges

The scope of American finance is absolutely unparalleled anywhere else on the globe. The American economy is somewhere around 16 times the size of its closest competitor. The sixth largest economy on the face of the earth, for example, is that of the State of California. For all its size, however, the U.S. economy does not, by any stretch of the imagination, stand alone. Exchanges and financial markets all over the world, through the use of today's computerized systems, have created a world where stocks trade 24 hours per day.

Exchanges exist in almost every major city in the world, including Paris, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Sidney, Hong Kong, and Singapore. While every one of these exchanges directly affects, and is directly affected by, each other, they are all under the authority of their own governments and must follow their government's laws. As a result, they differ from each as much as they are the same. While learning about international markets is interesting, actually investing in them as an individual is an altogether different matter. As a general rule, most international investing is done by corporate entities such as banks or mutual funds which then provide opportunities for international investments domestically through the use of ADRs or globally invested funds.