Those accounts usually follow the stock market, in good times and in bad.

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The exchange is a self-regulating organization, meaning that--headed by its 22 directors--it is charged with ensuring that its 365 member firms and 2, 800 listed companies follow the rules designed to keep the stock market fair and competitive.

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Of course, junk bonds have a tendency to follow the direction of the stock market and to reflect the risk-appetite in the overall economy.

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Even after they went public the top leadership and founder maintained a significant amount of stock so they could follow a vision and ignore pushes from the market to change direction.

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The fiscal cliff crisis is playing havoc with the stock market, sparking big sell-offs and occasional buy-ups as investors try to follow the progress, or lack thereof, in averting it.

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Additionally, Facebook's poor stock-market performance could lead some funds that follow the index, but don't track it precisely, to purchase less of the stock than they might otherwise have.

WSJ: Facebook Waits for Index 'Like'

The stock market performance in 2011 was disappointing for those who follow the Presidential cycle, as the third year of the cycle is generally the best.

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It raised fears about this being a repeat of the stock market crash of 1929 and a harbinger of an economic depression to follow.

BBC: The stock market crash of 1987: What have we learned?