The Daily Biz

While perusing Marketwatch this morning, I saw a headline about how strong Nestle profits are “supporting the European bourses”?  Huh?  I’ve never heard of a “bourse”.  Is it a business?  Is it a mass of consumers?  Is it a special cricket move? 

The Free Dictionary provides several definitions of “bourse”.  The common thread is that a bourse is a

…common name for a securities exchange located in Europe.

So there we go.  According to the Federation of European Securities Exchanges, some of these “bourses” include the Athens Exchange, the Luxemborg Stock Exchange, the Deutsche Borse, and the NYSE Euronext.  The free Dictionary goes on to say that the word “bourse” originates from the French word for “purse”.  Indeed, the national stock market of France is the “Paris Bourse”.  So now you know!

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