History and Growth of Nasdaq - Nasdaq was founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). - It began operations as the world's first electronic stock market on February 8, 1971. - Initially, it was a quotation system and did not facilitate electronic trades. - Over the years, Nasdaq evolved into a stock market by adding trade and volume reporting and automated trading systems. - In 1992, Nasdaq formed the first intercontinental linkage of capital markets by joining with the London Stock Exchange. - Nasdaq traded 37% of the U.S. securities market's total shares in 1981, growing to 46% by 1991. - In 1996, Nasdaq became the first stock market in the United States to trade online. - During the dot-com bubble, Nasdaq attracted many companies. - Nasdaq's main index is the NASDAQ Composite, which has been published since its inception. - The NASDAQ Composite index peaked at 5,132.52 in March 2000 during the dot-com bubble. - It experienced a significant decline, falling 78% from its peak over the following 30 months. - In 2002, Nasdaq Inc. became a public company through an initial public offering. - In 2006, Nasdaq changed its status from a stock market to a licensed national securities exchange. - In 2007, Nasdaq merged with OMX and changed its name to the NASDAQ OMX Group.

Corporate Actions and Recent Developments - Nasdaq acquired Instinet for $1.9 billion in December 2005. - In 2012, Nasdaq OMX became a founding member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative. - Adena Friedman became the first woman to run a major exchange in the U.S. when she was promoted to CEO in 2016. - In 2018, the SEC ruled that Nasdaq and NYSE did not justify continued price increases when selling market data. - In 2020, Nasdaq announced the removal of four Chinese companies from its indexes in response to an executive order.

Contract Specifications - Nasdaq 100 futures are traded on the CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange). - E-Mini Nasdaq 100 and Micro E-Mini Nasdaq 100 futures are traded on the EMiniCME. - The contract size for Nasdaq 100 is $100 X Nasdaq 100 Index. - The contract size for E-Mini Nasdaq 100 is $20 X Nasdaq 100 Index. - The contract size for Micro E-Mini Nasdaq is $2 X Nasdaq 100 Index.

Quote Availability and Trading Schedule - Level 1 shows highest bid and lowest ask—inside quote. - Level 2 shows all public quotes of market makers and recent executed orders. - Level 3 is used by market makers to enter quotes and execute orders. - The trading schedule for Nasdaq includes extended-hours trading sessions (premarket and postmarket) in addition to the normal trading session. - Nasdaq Stock Market has about 253 trading days per year.

Market Tiers and Listing Requirements - Nasdaq has different market tiers based on the market capitalization of listed companies (NASDAQ-CM small cap, NASDAQ-GM mid cap, NASDAQ-GS large cap). - The Global Select Market is more exclusive than the Global Market. - Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department reviews the Global Market Composite annually. - Companies must meet certain financial and governance requirements to be listed on Nasdaq, including minimum bid price, minimum market value of publicly held shares, and the number of market makers and publicly held shares required.