Now, the first case of a transaction probably took place when one stone-age man exchanged a flint knife for a tiger-skin blanket. We don’t start thinking of FINANCIAL trading until money was invented. Gold was our first CURRENCY – a precious metal that people could agree to use as a medium of the exchange of VALUE.

Either way, by the Middle Ages, most of the world’s gold had been accumulated by state rulers and churches. They soon realized that they could keep their gold but issue debt by issuing coins that represented their gold. That way, they could SPEND their gold and KEEP it – unless someone wanted to trade in THEIR money for gold.

Then, in the 17th century, something interesting happened. England’s Queen Elizabeth gave a private firm, the East India Company, the sole license to trade with the Far East. Travel through pirate-infested seas was then expensive and dangerous. The wise company managers allowed other merchants and aristocrats to SHARE in the income if they would help finance the trip. And so – shares.

Less than 300 years later, and Charles Dow – the daddy of financial analysis – created the first averaged measurement of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, thus creating the first stock index.

Today, things are much less centralized: fiat currencies are giving way to electronic payment forms and cryptocurrencies, stock exchanges are mostly online, and using derivatives, nearly ANYONE can trade oil and gold without needing a huge garage for storing oil barrels or sacks of prime beef and coffee.

A globally connected world means that anyone can access news and government announces in real time. Smart traders can then speculate on currency values based on that news, gauge the coming demand for oil or wheat, and even guess whether there’s room for yet another streaming service in the world of online television.
All YOU have to do is join in.