Looking to buy stocks in the mining sector? What about from the oil and gas industry? Then, you're in luck. This article is about the world stock exchange leader where the mining and oil and gas segments are concerned: The Toronto Stock Exchange. It lists more of these companies than any other stock exchange in the world.

While not as known as the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ, the Toronto Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Canada, the third largest in North America and the eighth largest in the world in terms of market capitalization. The Toronto Stock Exchange or TSX is headquartered in Bay Street in Toronto, the largest city in Canada and is owned and operated by the TMX group for the trading of senior equities. However, the TSX does not only trade conventional securities. It also dabbles in exchange-traded funds, split share corporations, income trusts and investment funds.

It currently lists more than 1,300 companies not only from Canada, but from the United States, Europe and other countries as well. Trading hours are from 9:30 A.M. to 4 P.M., Monday through Friday. They have a short post-market session from 04:15pm to 05:00pm, all times on ET.

Historically, the Toronto Stock Exchange can be traced from the Association of Brokers. However, the TSX was officially created by a group of 24 businessmen who congregated at the Masonic Hall on October 25, 1861. Formal incorporation of the exchange happened in 1878, through an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Since then, the TSX has grown continuously both in size and in shares traded. In 1914, however, the TSX was shut down for three months for fear of a financial panic that would ensue because of the impending First World War. It has not stopped trading after that. On April 23, 1997, the Toronto Stock Exchange switched to virtual or electronic trading.

As the leader in the trading of mining, oil and gas stocks, the Toronto Stock Exchange had listed 434 oil and gas companies by the end of June 30, 2007 that held a total market capitalization of $544.9 billion. The combined market capitalization of the 1,498 companies in the Toronto Stock Exchange has reached $2,105,570,021,017.

If the NYSE has the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ uses the NASDAQ 100 as its benchmark indices, the TSX utilizes the S&P/TSX Composite Index, formerly known as the TSE 300 as its stock market index. The S&P/TSX gives an overall view of how well the Canadian market is performing based on the companies included in the benchmark.

The Toronto Stock Exchange is also dubbed as the center for banking in the country since it is home to the CIBC, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada and the Toronto-Dominion Bank. These are known as Canada's Big Five commercial banks. Other companies listed in the exchange include Cameco Corporation, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Canadian Oil Sands Trust, EnCana Corporation, Husky Energy Inc., Imperial Oil Ltd. and Nexen Inc.