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Markets & Sectors

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Market & Sector Education

When people think of financial markets, what typically comes to mind is the stock market — the place where securities are traded. What we're talking about here, however, is the actual exchange itself — the act that takes place between buyer and seller, regardless of where that exchange may occur.

A financial market is literally a mechanism that brings together buyers and sellers to enable the voluntary exchange of assets, rights, obligations, and other items of value. It includes a process for delivery once a transaction is agreed upon. An economy that relies primarily on interactions between buyers and sellers to allocate resources is known as a market economy, and within a market economy, both general markets (where many securities or commodities are traded) and specialized markets (where only one security or commodity is traded) exist.

Financial markets, which can be domestic or international, facilitate the raising of capital, the transfer of risk, and international trade. Markets issue, price, and trade the following:

  • Paper assets, which are a negotiable instrument representing financial value that is priced at a specific time and place
  • Physical assets, which includes grades of raw material, time, and place of delivery, or the right to request the physical asset at a specified price, time, and place
  • Rights, which means you have the opportunity to do something in the future--you have a choice to take action or not, without any obligation
  • Obligations, which require you to perform a specific activity at a specific time or place, e.g., an authorized issuer owes the buyer a debt and is obliged to repay the principal and specified interest at a later date

Major Financial Markets

Fidelity offers premium research and analysis on the following major markets:

  • The Equity Market is where units of ownership interest in corporations or financial assets are traded. Shares can be stocks or associated derivatives such as futures, forwards, options, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and mutual funds.
    Research Equity Market
  • The Interest Rate Market is the market for fixed income securities that are obligated to pay interest such as government and corporate obligations (e.g., bonds and notes), certificates of deposit (CDs), and associated derivates such as futures, forwards, and options.
    Research Interest Rate Market
  • The Foreign Exchange Market is where the relative pricing of currencies takes place. The exchange rate is the price of one country's currency expressed in another country's currency. The cash foreign exchange market (direct exchanges of one currency for another) is primarily an interbank market. There are central markets for foreign exchange derivatives (e.g., options and futures).
    Research Foreign Exchange Market

Commodities markets are where raw materials and products (e.g., crude oil, unleaded gas) or their derivatives such as ETFs, exchange traded notes (ETNs), futures and forward contracts are traded.

  • The Energy Market is a commodity market where raw materials, products, and associated derivatives of oil, gas, and power products are traded.
    Research Energy Market
  • The Metals Market is a commodity market where raw materials, products (e.g., gold, silver, copper) and associated derivatives are traded.
    Research Metals Market
  • The Agricultural Market is a commodity market where raw materials, products (e.g., corn, wheat, soybeans), and associated derivatives are traded.
    Research Agricultural Market
*The Market Analysis, Research and Education (MARE) group is a unit of Fidelity Management & Research LLC.
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What's Happening Now ?

See Equity, Interest Rates, Foreign Ex- change, Energy, Metals or Agriculture to find out the current state of markets.

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*Market Analysis, Research and Education (MARE) group is a unit of Fidelity Management & Research LLC.
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