The Netherlands can boast of many firsts in history that have changed the way we live and interact. One of these was right at the early stages of the country’s independence from Spain: the first stock exchange or the aandelenmarkt.
Amsterdam Stock Exchange (photo taken by Jorden Esser found on Flickr.com)
First, a little history
In the 1500s, Portugal was the leader of trade with the East Indies. A group of Dutchmen wanted to see if they could cut the Portuguese middle men and begin selling themselves. After what was a terrible expedition with many deaths and two in-boat arrests, the Dutch expedition made it to Java and thus began the journey towards becoming the dominant sea force for years to come.
We need some money!
The Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or the VOC was founded in 1602 after the Dutch Republic granted it a charter for the next 21 years. People were then encouraged to invest in this new company and over one thousand investors from Amsterdam invested. The charter was extended and the VOC remained in business for almost two centuries.
Shortly after, people started selling their shares to the VOC, and what we now know as the stock market was inaugurated. When a former founder of the VOC was accused of speculating to drive down the price, the Dutch Republic intervened creating the first financial regulation by the government. It seems that from the very beginning, the same activities and sometimes scandals of the stock markets was present. The following video explains in more detail how the buying and selling of shares began.
Related vocabulary:
de aandelenmarkt– stock market de aandelen– shares winst– profit verlies– loss kosten– expenses investeringen– investments activa– assets verplichtingen– liabilities eigen vermogen– owner’s equity de aandelenkoers– share price kopen– to buy verkopen– to sell aan de slag gaan– to begin working Amsterdamse beurs– Amsterdam stock exchange aandeelhouder– share holder inschrijven– register gulden– gilders verhandelbaar– negotiable innovatie– innovation vestiging– settlement
Since I was a little girl, I was fascinated with languages and writing. I speak English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and a little bit of French. I am a writer, reader, language teacher, traveler, and a food lover!
I now live in The Netherlands with my husband Riccardo, our cat Mona, and our dog Lisa, and the experience has been phenomenal. The Dutch culture is an exciting sometimes topsy-turvy world that I am happily exploring!
Comments:
Sandy:
The video on the stock market should have been translated to English. Very disappointing to not be able to learn more from watching it.
Karoly G Molina:
@Sandy Hi Sandy! I understand your concern with the video, but perhaps you can take advantage of this moment to see how much you can really understand without a translation. Learning a language takes time, but I am confident that with practice, you will soon surprise yourself with how much you actually do understand. My advice (as a language teacher and student) is to try to listen to the video and see what words you can pick up. It doesn’t matter if you cannot understand the whole video. Picking up a few words here and there is great practice! 🙂
Comments:
Sandy:
The video on the stock market should have been translated to English. Very disappointing to not be able to learn more from watching it.
Karoly G Molina:
@Sandy Hi Sandy! I understand your concern with the video, but perhaps you can take advantage of this moment to see how much you can really understand without a translation. Learning a language takes time, but I am confident that with practice, you will soon surprise yourself with how much you actually do understand. My advice (as a language teacher and student) is to try to listen to the video and see what words you can pick up. It doesn’t matter if you cannot understand the whole video. Picking up a few words here and there is great practice! 🙂