What is Trading?

Trading is essentially the exchange of goods and services between two entities. It
is the basic principle which forms the core of all economic societies and financial
activities.

Trade governs the wheels of progress in any society and allows for wealth creation.
A place where any form of trade takes shape is called a market. Depending on the
kind of products, the market is defined. For instance, a place where stock trading
takes place is called the stock market.

There are primarily two forms of the market � organised and unorganised. Organised
market is constituted with a set of rules and regulations which every entity
operating in the market needs to adhere to and usually consists of a regulatory
body to supervise such adherence. An unorganised market does not contain any strict
rules and regulations, and even if it does, adherence is not mandatory.

With online trading and investing, the process has become much more convenient,
where most markets have been simulated on the internet.

History of Trading?
Trade has existed for as long as the human civilisation, i.e. the agricultural
revolution. The form of trading, however, has varied across different societies.
Primarily due to isolated human communities which did not allow the unification
into a single system.

In the past, however, a form of trading which was prevalent across different
societies was the barter system where services and goods were traded in exchange
for other services and goods.

However, the barter system was found inconvenient given the lack of any basic
standard of measure of the value of products. This inconvenience forged the way for
money which acted as a standard against which the values of all products are
measured. This invention triggered a chain of economic and financial developments
such as the introduction of the credit facility, share trading, etc.

Stock trading came into existence with the formation of joint-stock companies in
Europe and played an instrumental role in European imperialism. Informal stock
markets started mushrooming in various European cities. The first joint-stock
company to publically trade its shares was the Dutch East India Company who
released its shares through the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.