New York Stock Exchange

By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: November 7, 2003

This is Bob Doughty¹ with the VOA Special English Economics Report.
The largest 1)stock market in the world is the New York Stock Exchange. It is also the oldest financial market in the United States. Its history dates to seventeen-ninety-two.
Today, two-thousand-eight hundred companies trade their shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Together, the value of those stocks is almost fifteen-million-million dollars.
These companies are all publicly traded. That means any investor² can buy their stock.
A foreign company can trade on the New York Stock Exchange by placing some of its shares in a bank. An American Depositary [correct] Receipt is given in place of the stock, and can be traded on the exchange. About four-hundred-seventy companies from fifty-one other nations are represented on the New York Stock Exchange.
Stock is a share in the ownership of a company. Debt is also traded on the exchange. 2)Bonds are generally sold in amounts of one-thousand dollars or more. Companies and governments sell bonds as a way to borrow money. Buyers earn interest as they wait for the bonds to reach full value. Bonds can also be resold or divided.
The New York Stock Exchange is owned by its members. It has more than one-thousand-three-hundred members. They have the right to buy and sell securities on the trading floor, for other investors³ or for themselves. A membership is traditionally called a seat. These can also be bought and sold. Memberships have sometimes sold for more than two-million dollars.
In nineteen-seventy-one, the New York Stock Exchange became a non-profit corporation. This means it does not pay taxes.
A board of directors governs the exchange. The board has twenty-seven members. Twelve directors come from the securities industry. Twelve others are public directors. The board also includes the chairman of the exchange and two other top officers.
In September, Richard Grasso resigned as chairman. This happened after the exchange reported for the first time the total value of his pay agreement. It was one-hundred-eighty-eight million dollars. A lot of people said that was too much.
The temporary chairman of the New York Stock Exchange is John Reed. He says he plans to reform the board of directors. We discuss some of those plans next week.
This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.

注释：
1) stock [stCk] n.股票
2) bond [bCnd] n.债券，公债，证券

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会