" The NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation) Stock Market, founded in 1971, was the worlds first electronic stock market. The purpose of its founding was to popularize the OTC (over-the-counter) securities market which, up to that point, had been relatively unknown and unused by many stock players. With its first day of trading on February 8, 1971, the NASDAQ system displayed quotes for over 2,500 over-the-counter stocks.

By 1975, the NASDAQ displayed only NASDAQ-listed stocks, separating itself from other OTC stocks. Five years later the NASDAQ began displaying inside quotations, which showed the markets best bid and best sell prices on screen. This basically kept the market makers honest, and published spreads (margin between the best bid and best sell) declined on more than 85% of NASDAQ stocks."  »»» Click Here For More