Wednesday, November 02, 2005

The original stock markets evolved from coffee houses where investors would meet and swap paper over coffee. Gradually, as volumes grew, the participants at the coffee tables became agents for others. Eventually, the coffee houses were replaced with full scale trading floors which evolved into the sophisticated web-based trading systems we use today. Well, you can still do it the old way, and I sometimes do. It's a slow, somewhat painful process which instills (in me anyway) a sense of nostalgia and history. Trading shares directly over the table with family and friends can save you a little money (no transaction costs!) and it can be fun.Link

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