The Rise of Financial Trading – Where is it all Going?

In the modern world of 2013, it’s never been a more exciting time to be a part of the world of Financial Trading. With the onset of technological advancements such as the internet and the smartphone, the practice is no longer restricted to the rich or trained. Financial Trading has been opened up to a public that is gradually beginning to learn how to play the game for itself. The question we at the Academy of Financial Trading want to ask, however, is now that the game is opening up to an increasingly growing amount of new players, where does it all go from here?

However, like with anything else in life, you need to know the history to know where you’re headed; By the middle ages, the concept of the money lender had become embedded into the ‘civilised’ mind set, as lenders starting trading debts between each other and began to sell debt issues to individual customers; the first investors. By the 1300’s the Venetians were particularly known for their deft skills in the field of money lending, becoming the first to start trading securities from other governments.

The first real stock exchange has been dated back to Antwerp, Belgium, 1532, as brokers and money lenders would meet to deal in business, governments and debts, although stocks didn’t really exist back then and they dealt primarily with bonds and promissory notes. This grew in the 17^th Century, as the British, Dutch and French East India Companies came into being, and this early stock market activity dominated the newly founded coffee houses of the continent as they dealt with how to handle the profits of these voyages and conquests. This lead to the South Seas Bubble, as The British East India Company gained a government backed monopoly, and then investors began to buy the first shares in the South Seas Company, which led to a financial crisis when the bubble burst. The government then actually banned shares until 1825.

The first modern stock exchange opened in London in 1773, the New York Stock Exchange opening a mere 19 years later, with greater success, due to the lack of restriction on shares. The New York Stock Exchange came to dominate the market, and as the American economy grew, so did its reputation; until the Wall Street Crash in 1929. This saw the bubbles of the 20’s post war boom burst and led to the worst economic period in history, the Great Depression; a major contributing factor to the rise of the Nazi Party.

Since world war two we have seen several booms and busts, it seems to be a common part of Financial Trading, however the industry has yet again managed to evolve. As recently as the 80’s Financial Trading was as much the providence of the rich and educated as it had been back in Antwerp, however the internet, as it did with practically every other area of life, radically changed the game. It all had to do with access to information. There was more flow of information, people could learn about the Financial Trading game with increasing ease, as resources that would have once been beyond them, were translated for the finance ignorant public via the internet.

So, where will it all go from here? Well, the biggest future contributor may be the Smartphone. It’s already changed so much about the way people live; it makes  sense that it’d do the same for Financial Trading, as it will likely make it more convenient, meaning that even more members of the ordinary public will be tempted to try it out for themselves. What is clear is that Financial Trading has always thrived, even when threatened, and it will no doubt continue to do so