Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another by getting something in exchange from the buyer. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Later one side of the barter were the metals, precious metals (poles, coins), bill, paper money. Modern traders instead generally negotiate through a medium of exchange, such as money. As a result, buying can be separated from selling, or earning. The invention of money (and later credit, paper money and non-physical money) greatly simplified and promoted trade. Trade between two traders is called bilateral trade, while trade between more than two traders is called multilateral trade.
Trade exists for man due to specialization and division of labor, most people concentrate on a small aspect of production, trading for other products. Trade exists between regions because different regions have a comparative advantage in the production of some tradable commodity, or because different regions' size allows for the benefits of mass production. As such, trade at market prices between locations benefits both locations.
Retail trade consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a very fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Wholesale trade is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services.
Trading can also refer to the action performed by traders and other market agents in the financial markets.
Read more about Trade: History of Trade, International Trade
Other articles related to "trade":
... In the forest region, Iron Age cultures began to flourish, and an inter-region trade began to appear.The desertification of the Sahara and the climatic change of the coast cause ... of the camel allowed the development of a trans-Saharan trade with cultures across the Sahara, including Carthage and the Berbers major exports included gold, cotton cloth, metal ornaments and leather goods, which ...
... The fair trade movement, also known as the trade justice movement, promotes the use of labour, environmental and social standards for the production of commodities ... Such ideas have also sparked a debate on whether trade itself should be codified as a human right ... Importing firms voluntarily adhere to fair trade standards or governments may enforce them through a combination of employment and commercial law ...
... published by the World Bank as part of its Trade Costs and Facilitation Project suggests that Mexico has the potential to substantially increase trade flows and economic growth through trade facilitation reform ... The study examines the potential impacts of trade facilitation reforms in four areas port efficiency, customs administration, information technology, and regulatory environment (including standards) ...
... Above Preliminary site plans for the World Trade Center rebuild ... Bush vowed to rebuild the World Trade Center site ... rebuild New York City." The immediate response from World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein was that "it would be the tragedy of tragedies not to rebuild this part of New York ...
... The US direct investment in NAFTA countries is in nonbank holding companies, and in the manufacturing, finance/insurance, and mining sectors ... The foreign direct investment, of Canada and Mexico in the United States (stock) was $237.2 billion in 2009 (the latest data available), up 16.5% from 2008. ...
Famous quotes containing the word trade:
“My trade and my art is living. He who forbids me to speak about it according to my sense, experience, and practice, let him order the architect to speak of buildings not according to himself but according to his neighbor; according to another man’s knowledge, not according to his own.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“The girl must early be impressed with the idea that she is to be “a hand, not a mouth”; a worker, and not a drone, in the great hive of human activity. Like the boy, she must be taught to look forward to a life of self-dependence, and early prepare herself for some trade or profession.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)
“No king on earth is as safe in his job as a Trade Union official. There is only one thing that can get him sacked; and that is drink. Not even that, as long as he doesn’t actually fall down.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)