This NYC-based exchange is one of the largest of its kind and houses many of the oldest publicly traded companies in the US. To invest, all you’ll need is an online brokerage account.
You can buy NYSE stocks by opening an account with an online broker. This process only takes a few minutes. Once you open and fund an account, you can buy and sell shares weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET.
This graph tracks how the NYSE has performed historically. Toggle between the options on the graph to see data by month or year.
The amount you pay to invest depends on the specific broker or trading platform you use, as each has its own fee structure. When comparing platforms, look for its fees and cost structure — this can have a big influence on the cost of investing.
If you’re exclusively interested in swapping stocks, there’s good news: Very few brokers charge commissions on stocks. In fact, commission-free or zero-fee stock trading is available on many popular platforms like eToro, SoFi and tastytrade.
Outside stock commissions, there are several other brokerage account fees to look for. Every platform is different, so compare your options across multiple brokers to find the pricing you’re most comfortable with:
If you want to invest in the New York Stock Exchange without purchasing stocks, consider purchasing an index fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF). These funds differ from stocks in three primary ways:
Hundreds of index funds are available for the NYSE, so there’s likely to be one that suits your investing goals. Many of the most famous stock market indexes, such as the S&P 500, Dow Jones and NYSE Composite, track stocks listed on the NYSE.
The NYSE Composite is an index that tracks every common stock listed on the exchange. The Composite is comprised of over 2,000 stocks, offering investors a comprehensive gauge of the market as a whole. The index is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indexes, the same company responsible for monitoring the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA).
The New York Stock Exchange is by far the world’s largest stock exchange, with a total market capitalization of over $22 trillion. It features over 2,400 stocks from some of the most valuable companies in the world. If you’re looking to diversify your portfolio, the NYSE has plenty to offer. Investing in the NYSE can be a good way to broaden your portfolio and get exposure to successful stocks.
Here are the 15 biggest companies by market capitalization as of October 2023:
| Company | Market cap |
|---|---|
| Apple Inc (AAPL) | 2,740.60 B |
| Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) | 2,368.83 B |
| Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) | 1,711.15 B |
| Amazon.com Inc (AMZN) | 1,302.36 B |
| NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) | 1,106.68 B |
| Tesla Inc (TSLA) | 829.71 B |
| Meta Platforms Inc (META) | 787.57 B |
| Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.B) | 753.05 B |
| Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) | 514.02 B |
| Visa Inc. (V) | 485.88 B |
| UnitedHealth Group Incorp. (UNH) | 478.98 B |
| Taiwan Semiconductor Man. (TSM) | 453.50 B |
| Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) | 434.51 B |
| Walmart Inc (WMT) | 429.33 B |
| JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) | 347.80 B |
No investment is risk-free, no matter how large and successful the market. Investing in individual stocks can be risky, as stocks tend to be more volatile than ETFs. There’s opportunity for profit, but if the company you’ve invested in goes under, you’ll suffer a loss.
ETFs provide greater stability in an investor’s portfolio but also carry risk. Funds that track the entire NYSE suffer from the same vulnerability as other large index-tracking funds: They’re dominated by large-cap stocks. Big index-tracking funds are cap-weighted, which means that companies with the highest market cap have the biggest impact on the index’s performance. This can result in skewed index data.
The best way to build a truly diversified portfolio is to invest in funds from large and small indexes.
Compare trading platforms that offer access to the NYSE below.
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The New York Stock Exchange remains one of the most prolific in the world, housing some of the largest and most successful publicly traded companies on the market. Anyone with a brokerage account can invest. Review your trading platform options with multiple providers to find the account that fits your investment needs.
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