Stock Market Participants

Following are the key players and participants in the stock market:

Broker-dealer - It is a company or firm that trades securities for its own account or on behalf of its clients.

Floor broker - An independent member of an exchange who act as a broker for other members and as an agent on the floor of the exchange.

Floor trader - The person who trades on the floor of that exchange for his or her own account. It can also be referred to as Registered Competitive Traders, Individual Liquidity Providers or locals.

Investor - The person who makes an investment. There are different types of investors in the financial market including Sweat equity investor, Individual investors, Investment banks, Investment trusts, etc.

Market maker - It is a firm that quotes both a buy and a sell price in a financial instrument or commodity on a regular and continuous basis.

Stock trader - An individual or organization that buys and sells stocks or other financial instruments in the financial markets.

Proprietary trader - The firm that trades stocks, bonds, currencies, or other financial instruments with the firm's own money so as to make a profit for itself.

Quantitative analyst - A specialist in the numerical or quantitative techniques of finance. In the investment industry, they are frequently called quants.

* Next: Learn Stocks and Shares

Author

Kelvin Wong Loke Yuen is a highly experienced education writer. He has obtained many certifications from the UK, USA, Australia and Canada, including an MBA and a Postgraduate Diploma from Heriot-Watt (UK's World-Class University) and a BCom degree from Adelaide (Australia’s Group of Eight University). Follow him on: LinkedIn