Financial markets and securities are very important to business and to society in general. It is therefore worthwhile to examine the relationships that these terms have with each other. The purpose of this essay is to highlight and explain some of the important factors of financial markets and their relationship to the business sector and the economy in general. I will first define the key terms involved before demonstrating the inter-connectablity of these important and relevant ideas. Investopedia defines financial markets the following way: "Broad term describing any marketplace where buyers and sellers participate in the trade of assets such as equities, bonds, currencies and derivatives. Financial markets are typically defined by having transparent pricing, basic regulations on trading, costs and fees and market forces determining the prices of securities that trade." Using this understanding of the term, many different...

The U.S. financial system, even with all of its faults, is generally considered to be the most developed and relatively successful markets in the world.
Businesses realize that the economy is dependent on the sum of all the different types of financial markets that contribute to the economy in general. The truly best and efficient financial markets and institutions tend to lower specific transaction costs in the economy. By providing a large array of financial products, with varying risk and pricing structures as well as maturity, a well-developed financial system offers products to…