Better capitalized, more liquid and greater diversification

It's not hard to understand the world's enthusiasm for U.S. investments. No other international financial market comes close to the size, accessibility, transparency and liquidity of U.S. stock markets.

U.S. Markets are Better Capitalized

The U.S. stock markets represent the biggest single concentration of wealth in history. In terms of market capitalization, no other financial market comes close to the combined U.S. stock markets. As of the end of December 2008, the market capitalization of the NYSE was valued at US$9.2 trillion.

Exchanges	Market Capitalization (USD Trillions)
NYSE	$9.21
Tokyo	$3.12
NASDAQ	$2.40
Euronext	$2.10
London	$1.87
Shanghai	$1.43
Hong Kong	$1.33

U.S. Stock Markets are More Liquid

Just looking at the NYSE alone, the value of share trading for the whole year of 2008 was more than 5 times that of London, 6 times that of Tokyo, and 21 times that of Hong Kong. U.S. markets are still the biggest in terms of turnover as well as value. That means there's a very high chance of finding a buyer or seller of any particular stock at any given time.

Exchanges	Value of Share Trading in 2008 (USD Trillions)
NYSE	$33.64
NASDAQ	$36.45
London	$6.27
Tokyo	$5.61
Euronext	$4.41
Shanghai	$2.60
Hong Kong	$1.63

U.S. Stock Markets Offer Greater Diversification

U.S. markets offer access to a huge variety of U.S. companies seeking to raise capital. With more than 6,000 companies to select from, you can invest in major companies and brands from all over the world who list their shares on U.S. financial markets.

Exchanges	Number of Companies
U.S.*	6,449
London	3,096
Tokyo	2,390
Hong Kong	1,261
Euronext	1,002
Shanghai	864

*AMEX + NASDAQ + NYSE

Source: World Federation of Exchanges. Data as of December 31, 2008.

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