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FSE - Frankfurt Stock Exchange

The city of Frankfurt has the unique distinction of being host to one of the first stock exchanges in the world. Owned and operated by Deutsche Borse, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the third largest trade-place for stocks in the world and the second largest in terms of market capitalization. There are currently about 6823 companies quoted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the exchange enjoys an annual turnover of roughly 5.2 trillion euros. Most of the FSE’s trading takes place via a fully electronic trading system known as Xetra. This electronic system makes it possible for 15 different countries to trade on a single platform. Because this allows for countries to trade on the exchange without actually being in the country for floor trading, some 47% of those companies trading on the FSE are located in other countries. Those companies wishing to enter the Frankfurt stock market can choose from three different categories: Prime, General and Entry Standard. Entry Standard is of course, the easiest ways since Prime and General are regulated by the EU rules. Some examples of companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange are Nokia, Opel, Porsche, Daimler Chrysler and Hugo Boss Ag.

Germany enjoys one of the most highly developed market economies in the world and it is the largest economy in Europe. It also ranks fifth in the world in terms of purchasing power parity and GDP. The country’s economy is largely export-orientated and exports account for more than one-third of the country’s annual output. However, despite the fact that Germany enjoys such a high export rate, it suffers from low consumer confidence on a local scale. This has weakened the local economy somewhat, but he government is making strides towards alleviating the problem. Currently the services sector contributes the most towards Germany’s GDP with roughly 70.3% of profits coming from this sector. Agriculture in Germany is incredibly small with only 1.1% of the country’s revenue being generated by this sector and the remaining 28.6% coming from the industry sector. About 13% of the country’s population live below the poverty line and some 9.6% are unemployed. While these number are not all that good for a developed country, they are not that bad when compared to other countries.

Germany’s main industries are iron, steel, cement, coal, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food, beverages, shipbuilding and textiles. In 2005 $1.016 trillion was generated from exports while only $801 billion came from imports. This further shows how much more is generated from exports each year. The country’s main trade partners are France, the US and UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and China.