Toronto Stock Exchange - TSX

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The Toronto Stock Exchange (abbreviated as TSX) is the largest stock exchange in Canada. It was previously known as the TSE until 2001, although it went by the same name un-abbreviated. Like most stock exchanges it's there to facilitate an open market place where stocks, bonds, options, futures, commodities and other financial instruments are traded, bought and sold. Traditionally the Toronto Stock Exchange has been filled with a lot of natural resource based companies and is a leader in the mining and oil & gas sectors.

Aptly located in Canada's biggest city, Toronto, the exchange is owned and run by the TSX Group for the trading of senior equities. A wide array of companies from Canada, the United States, Europe, and other more distant countries are traded on the TSX and in addition to regular securities and financial instruments, the exchange lists numerous split share corporations, income trusts, investment funds and exchange traded funds. In relation to other exchanges it is the third largest exchange in North America and is the seventh largest exchange in the world.

The normal day trading session of the exchange operates from 09:30am to 04:00pm; however they also utilize a post-market session from 04:15pm to 05:00pm on all days of the week except the weekends and specific holidays, which are declared by the Exchange beforehand.

One of the key dates in the history of the Toronto Stock Exchange was on April 23, 1997 when the exchange effectively shut off its busy trading floor and went completely computerized and electronic, taking it to the forefront of North American stock exchange technology, comparable to the NASDAQ.

Like most stock exchanges, due to the development of the internet access to trading is a lot easier and virtually anyone with a computer and internet connection can begin trading on the exchange.