Toronto Stock Exchange
The strong demand for natural resources in recent years has kept the Canadian economy booming. As a result there have been some very solid gains on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Toronto Stock Exchange is widely known in the investment world as the place to go if you want to put your money into the natural resources sector as it represents a huge part of the Canadian economy.
The Toronto Stock Exchange is the largest exchange in Canada and one of the largest in the world. Almost all of the largest companies in Canada are listed on the exchange as well as many companies from other parts of the world. Canada has a broad based economy and there are many different types of companies listed on the exchange the biggest sector by far is the natural resources. There are more mining and oil and gas companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange than on any other exchange in the world. With the boom in these sectors over the last few years the Toronto Stock Exchange has been very strong with investors from around the world getting putting money into the market.
The Toronto Stock Exchange is one of the oldest in North America having been founded in 1861. For many years it was just the largest of many exchanges in Canada however over the years it has taken over most of the other Canadian stock exchanges so that it is now really the only player. Like most stock exchanges new technology has led to dramatic changes and the Toronto Stock Exchange operates on a mixed model with stocks being traded on the floor by brokers and with automated systems.
One of the features of the Toronto Stock Exchange that has really attracted a lot of interest in recent years is the sale of income trusts. An income trust is an investment that invests in a variety of different companies and provides investors with a regular cash flow. These have been very popular in Canada for some time and there have been attempts made to introduce them in other countries. For the most part this hasn't worked as investors find it easier to simply buy an income trust on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
It was recently been announced that the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London Stock exchange would merge. This would create the second largest stock exchange in the world. The deal is still awaiting approval by regulators but it looks very likely to go through. This is the way things have been going in recent years as many of the world's top stock markets have started merging together. Doing so gives them a lot of advantages, in particular in terms of cost savings. It is very expensive to run a stock exchange but the price doesn't really go up as the exchange gets bigger. Therefore there is a strong incentive to have a very large stock exchange.