The first continuous trading on a stock exchange was done in the 17th century in Amsterdam. Prior to this, in 13th century France, product traders used to meet in a house which they later called ?Bruges Bourse?. Nowadays, stock markets can be found in most countries but the biggest markets can be found in the United States, Japan, China, and the United Kingdom.

Long before the advent of online stock market investments, trading was done by individual buyers and sellers. These are business persons who do their own trading activities. Later on, as market participants in the stock market increased, stock brokers began to represent individuals and other big firms who are interested to buy stocks. A wealthy businessman has his own set of stock brokers representing his business interest in the world's big stock markets. Brokerage houses were then established to cater to the increasing demands of the trend. These big firms are called brokerage houses and examples include Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Charles Schwab.

Due to the Internet's capacity to connect many people from different places at the same time, the process of buying and selling stocks has become faster, easier and less expensive. Online stock market investments have been availed by many investors because of its unique features compared to the traditional stocks trading.

Online stock market investments are easier to do because if a buyer or seller decides to do online trading, he does not have to pay a stock broker anymore. Stock brokers can charge up to as much as $100 per trade, while online stock market brokers can charge as low as $10 per trade. Online stock market trading allows investors to do all transactions in front of the computer. An online stock market investor can also check and manage with his stock portfolio in real time using a computer. Several online stock trading companies have opened their websites to cater to the demands of their increasing clientele.

Online stock market investing has made the business of trading easier, faster, and cheaper. An investor who does online trading will not need to call his broker to conduct business. All he has to do is go the stock broker's website and indicate the stocks he wants to buy or sell and these orders will be processed in real time.

These online stock market brokers or stock market websites, as they are called, also contains a lot of additional services in their websites. They can provide online stock market traders with stock market information, and other relevant insights.