Financial Markets Discussion-Albany State University .

Different financial markets serve different types of customers or different parts of the country. Financial markets also vary depending on the maturity of the securities being traded and the types of assets used to back the securities. For these reasons, it is useful to classify markets along the following dimensions: 1. Physical asset markets versus financial asset markets. Physical asset markets (also called “tangible” or “real” asset markets) are for products such as wheat, autos, real estate, computers, and machinery. Financial asset markets, on the other hand, deal with stocks, bonds, notes, and mortgages. Financial markets also deal with derivative securities whose values are derived from changes in the prices of other assets. A share of Ford stock a “pure financial asset,” while an option to buy Ford shares is a derivative security whose value depends on the price of Ford stock. 2. Spot markets versus futures markets. Spot markets are markets in which assets are bought or sold for “on-the-spot” delivery (literally, within a few days). Futures markets are markets in which participants agree today to buy or sell an asset at some future date. For example, a farmer may enter into a futures contract in which he agrees today to sell 5,000 bushels of soybeans 6 months from now at a price of $10.275 a bushel. To continue that example, a food processor that needs soybeans in the future may enter into a futures contract in which it agrees to buy soybeans 6 months from now. Such a transaction can reduce, or hedge, the risks faced by both the farmer and the food processor. 3. Money markets versus capital markets. Money markets are the markets for short-term, highly liquid debt securities. The New York, London, and Tokyo money markets are among the world’s largest. Capital markets are the markets for intermediate- or long-term debt and corporate stocks. The New York Stock Exchange, where the stocks of the largest U.S. corporations are traded, is a prime example of a capital market. There is no hard-and-fast rule, but in a description of debt markets, short-term generally means less than 1 year, intermediate-term means 1 to 10 years, and long-term means more than 10 years. 4. Primary markets versus secondary markets. Primary markets are the markets in which corporations raise new capital. If GE were to sell a new issue of common stock to raise capital, a primary market transaction would take place. The corporation selling the newly created stock, GE, receives the proceeds from the sale in a primary market transaction. Secondary markets are markets in which existing, already outstanding securities are traded among investors. Thus, if Jane Doe decided to buy 1,000 shares of GE stock, the purchase would occur in the secondary market. The New York Stock Exchange is a secondary market because it deals in outstanding, as opposed to newly issued, stocks and bonds. Secondary markets also exist for mortgages, other types of loans, and other financial assets. The corporation whose securities are being traded is not involved in a secondary market transaction and thus does not receive funds from such a sale. 5. Private markets versus public markets. Private markets, where transactions are negotiated directly between two or more parties, are differentiated from public markets, where standardized contracts are traded on organized exchanges. Bank loans and private debt placements with insurance companies are examples of private market transactions. Because these transactions are private, they may be structured in any manner to which the relevant parties agree. By contrast, securities that are traded in public markets (for example, common stock and corporate bonds) are held by a large number of individuals. These securities must have fairly standardized contractual features because public investors do not generally have the time and expertise to negotiate unique, nonstandardized contracts. Broad ownership and standardization result in publicly traded securities being more liquid than tailor-made, uniquely negotiated securities.