Market Types and Market Organization

These pages define the broad market categories and organizational ideas that sit above individual venues and order types.

Use this subsection for terms that describe the type of market rather than a specific exchange, broker, order, or quote convention.

In this section

• Market Organization and Secondary Markets
  Market-structure terms for financial markets, futures markets, secondary markets, and market organization.
  • Financial Market
    A comprehensive guide to financial markets, including their types, functions, examples, and related terms such as capital market and money market.
  • Futures Market
    Explore the intricacies of the futures market, an exchange for trading futures contracts. Learn how futures differ from forwards and their significance in financial trading.
  • Market Structure
    Market structure describes how competition is organized inside a market and how entry barriers, firm concentration, and pricing power shape outcomes.
  • Secondary Market
    Understand the secondary market, why it matters for liquidity and price discovery, and how it differs from the primary market.
• Public and Securities Market Types
  Market-organization terms for capital markets, equity markets, securities markets, and stock markets.
  • Capital Market
    Learn what the capital market does, who uses it, and how it channels long-term funding from savers to borrowers.
  • Equity Market
    Learn what the equity market is, how companies raise capital there, and why it matters for investors, businesses, and the broader economy.
  • Securities Market
    An in-depth guide to understanding the Securities Market, its types, historical context, significance, and much more.
  • Stock Market
    Learn what the stock market is, how primary and secondary markets differ, and why equity trading matters to the wider economy.