Securities Amendments Act of 1975

Before 1975, trading stocks was very much a regional thing. New York was the sun, and the rest of the world more or less just... orbited.

The 1975 Act created a national market clearing system so that a share of IBM traded for generally the same price in California, Georgia, New Hampshire, and New York. This way, smaller, less-liquid regions aren't penalized with higher transaction costs than the wolves on Wall Street.

Fairness FTW.

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)