Stock market is a place where public companies list their shares for buyers and sellers to trade.Trading happens in exchange via stock broker and electronic trading platforms.Stock market can be imagined as a collection of Stock exchanges. 
Trading in the stock market means securities are transferred from seller to a buyer. 

How does it work ? 
For example, 

  • A Company lists shares on an exchange( which becomes Guarantor ).This process is called an IP ( Initial Public offering ).
  • Buyers of this stock ( Long term Investors, Short-term Traders and others )  discover this company
  • A buyer ask specific price for a stock – This is Bid price 
  • A  potential seller asks a specific price for the same stock  – This is the ask price.
  • When bid and ask prices match, stock exchange facilitates buy and sell transactions.  If there are multiple buyers and multiple sellers  at a given price a sale happens on a first come first-served basis.

Exchanges provide real time pricing information of these listed company shares (also referred to as stock or equity ) for buyers and sellers to make a decision. Buyers and Sellers  interact with exchanges via stock brokers and electronic trading platforms.
Examples of Stock Market exchanges: NYSE,NASDAQ.
Examples of Stock brokers :  eToro,Fidelity, Robinhood, Fidelity, Trade Station.Examples of Electronic Trading Platforms :  E-Trade, Nasdaq. 

Practice- Beginner