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How does the stock market work? - Oliver Elfenbaum

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TEDEd Animation

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In the 1600s, the Dutch East India Company employed hundreds of ships to trade goods around the globe. In order to fund their voyages, the company turned to private citizens to invest money to support trips in exchange for a share of the profits. In doing so, they unknowingly invented the world’s first stock market. So how do companies and investors use the market today? Oliver Elfenbaum explains.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

The stock market may be used by millions of people every day, but it is still poorly understood on a broad level. To learn more about how the stock market works and the history of stock exchanges, Investopedia has full suite of helpful articles to help investors from any investing background better understand personal finance concepts. How the stock market works
and the History of stock exchanges are two great resources to help readers get started.

Additionally, this post from Nerdwallet has more information on how the stock market works, popular services investors use to trade stocks, and key information on various investment plans.

For those looking for a deeper dive on how the markets and the broader economy functions, this video by Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio provides one of the best finance overviews on the internet. If the 30 min seems long, try watching in two 15 minute segments. 

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About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Oliver Elfenbaum
  • Director Tom Gran, Madeleine Grossi
  • Narrator Addison Anderson
  • Art Director Madeleine Grossi
  • Layout Artist Madeleine Grossi
  • Storyboard Artist Tom Gran
  • Designer Madeleine Grossi
  • Character Designer Tom Gran
  • Animator Tom Gran
  • Sound Designer Euan James-Richards
  • Composer Euan James-Richards
  • Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
  • Associate Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
  • Associate Editorial Producer Dan Kwartler
  • Script Editor Emma Bryce
  • Fact-Checker Brian Gutierrez

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