Earliest

• Mint reports the earliest precursors to the current market were in Antwerp, Belgium in the 1500s, though real trading didn't occur until the 1600s. The European need to travel by sea to the West Indies gave rise to such trading. To meet such hefty costs, sponsoring companies would raise money from investors. In turn, these investors would get a share of the riches from the expeditions, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. It wasn't long before the Dutch East India Co. would open this process up to outside investors who, for a price, would be a guaranteed a set percentage of the company's profits.
  
  

Communication

• Stocks and bonds were first extended to the general public in the early 1600s, according to Mint. Before the Internet or even the telegram, companies depended on getting word out about the shares they'd like to sell or the debt that was issued by posting this information on the doors of coffee shops or mailing newsletters to patrons. This informal communication of market activity also represented the early years of the London Stock Exchange. Truly an "exchange," this organization was not housed out of a building but relied on information disseminated at these shops, according to Mint.
  
  

America

• Across the Atlantic, the market and its reporting had similarly humble beginnings, according to the Library of Congress. The American Stock Exchange was formerly called the "curb exchange," because it functioned like a true market, with players meeting at a curb on Broad Street near Exchange Place. In the early 1800s, "reporting" boiled down to a list of stocks being read aloud during two sessions each day---one in the morning, the other in the afternoon, according to the New York Stock Exchange.
  
  

Technology

• The advent of the telegraph in the mid-1800s enabled information about the market to be transmitted across the miles, according to NYSE. The telephone followed in 1878. The first ticker also sped up and eased such reporting, giving access to current prices regardless of geography. In the late 1800s, NYSE reports, the ticker was "commoditized," giving people access to this technology for a fee. The Dow Jones Industrial average also made its first appearance in the Wall Street Journal around this time, in 1896. It featured a dozen stocks, which included the likes of Standard Rope and Twine.
  
  

Modern

• The more modern history of the stock market report revolves around the Internet. In 1971, NASDAQ emerged. It represented the first electronic stock market, according to the Library of Congress. The company revolutionized the way developments in the market were communicated, courtesy of a massive, computerized bulletin board featuring real-time prices and showcasing up-to-the-minute fluctuations. Formerly, reporting was very labor-intensive, according to Mint; the process depended on groups of analysts who would review trading developments and report it through any means available at that point in history. The process of reporting and facilitating trades has since been automated, and includes the late-2000s technological communication platform launched by NYSE which enables media organizations and Internet operations to buy real-time market data, according to the NYSE site.