Nasdaq National Market Securities (Nasdaq-NM)

The NASDAQ National Market Securities (Nasdaq-NM) is the market comprising more than 3000 companies that have a national or international shareholder base, meet stringent financial requirements and agree to specific corporate governance standards. The NASDAQ National Market is what most people refer to when they think about NASDAQ.

To initially list on the NASDAQ National Market system, companies are required to have significant net tangible assets or operating income, a minimum public float of 1,100,000 shares, at least 400 shareholders and a bid price of at least $4.

Smaller companies that do not qualify for the NASDAQ National Market trade on the NASDAQ Capital Market. To list on the NASDAQ Capital Market, companies are required to have a net income standard of $750,000, a minimum public float of 1,000,000 shares, at least 300 shareholders, and a bid price of at least $4.

NASDAQ is an acronym for National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System, which is an electronic stock exchange system providing OTC stock quotes to the public. Currently, more than 4000 common stock issues are actively traded on the NASDAQ system.

NASDAQ is the largest electronic stock exchange in the world, and the second largest in the U.S., after the New York Stock Exchange. Established in 1971 as successor to OTC curb trading, NASDAQ has the highest trading volume of any exchange in the world, which typically results in a more volatile trading environment than most traditional stock exchanges. In June 2006, NASDAQ became recognized as a stock exchange by the SEC.

Now a standalone corporation, NASDAQ, Inc. was originally owned by the National Association of Securities Dealers, which eventually merged with the NYSE regulatory board to become became the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. 

In addition to the NASDAQ stock market, as of 2018, NASDAQ, Inc. is also the owner and operator of several stock exchanges in Europe, including the Armenian Stock Exchange, the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, the Iceland Stock Exchange, the Riga Stock Exchange, and the Tallinn Stock Exchange. NASDAQ, Inc. also owns and operates the NASDAQ OMX Group, which owns and operates stock exchanges based in Helsinki, Stockholm, and Vilnius in Lithuania.