What is Secondary Market?

The secondary market refers to the traditional stock market. It is known as the secondary market because before bonds, stocks, derivatives, and other financial instruments are sold on the stock market, they are sold on the primary market. In a secondary market investors exchange assets they already own with each other instead of with an issuing entity like on the primary market. In a broader context, the secondary market is any marketplace that is used to exchange goods or assets that are not used for their main purpose (such as corn for ethanol instead of food production or livestock feed).