These are professional firms (like Citadel Securities or Virtu Financial) that stand ready to buy or sell stocks at any time. Their job is to provide liquidity , ensuring you can buy a stock even if there isn't an individual seller available at that precise second. 3. The Venue: Stock Exchanges
These are the most common for individual investors (e.g., Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Robinhood). They offer low or zero commissions and user-friendly apps. who do you buy stocks from
Just as you are buying, another person somewhere else may be selling their shares of that same company at that exact moment. These are professional firms (like Citadel Securities or
This includes mutual funds , pension funds , or hedge funds that are rebalancing their portfolios. The Venue: Stock Exchanges These are the most
In the modern financial system, individual investors cannot walk onto a stock exchange floor and buy shares directly. Instead, you buy stocks through a (often called a "broker"). These entities act as the middleman, providing the platform and legal infrastructure to execute your trades.