A Breakdown of the Stock Ticker
By Brooke M. Stephens
Turn on any financial show and the first thing you notice are the two lines
of letters and numbers that flow continuously across the screen. If you're
going to be a serious investor, your first step towards learning the language
of investing is to know how to read the ticker tape.
Reading the Ticker Tape
Stock prices are too long to write out the full name of each company so an abbreviated letter
symbol is assigned to each company. This symbol, know as the ticker symbol, is a means of identifying the constant stream of letters and numbers.
The top line of numbers and symbols are the companies that are listed on
the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or the American Stock Exchange (ASE). The larger, more financially successful companies that are listed on the NYSE or the ASE are designated by a symbol using one, two or three letters. To be listed on the NYSE, referred to as the "Big Board" or the ASE, a company has to have a track record of at least three years of earnings above the $5,000,000 level and must have at least two million shares available for investors to buy and sell in active trading. The older the company, the more obvious and simple their ticker symbol would be. For example,
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AVP - Avon Products
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AXP - American Express
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BUD - Anheuser-Busch/Budweiser
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CD - Cendant Corporation
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CPQ - Compaq Computer
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F - Ford Motor Company
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G - Gilette
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GM - General Motors
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EK - Eastman Kodak
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HD - Home Depot
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HWP - Hewlett Packard
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IBM - International Business Machines
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JCP - JCPenney
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K - Kellogg
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KO - Coca Cola
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LIZ - Liz Claiborne
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PEP - Pepsico
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TOM - Tommy Hilfiger
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T- ATandT
The bottom line of stock symbols are for the NASDAQ which stands for the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quote system. The NASDAQ has more flexible listing requirements and less stringent rules for getting listed. Start-up companies with no earnings, profits or track record and few
outstanding shares will be found here. The newest stocks, including internets, biotechs and most media and telecommunications debut on the NASDAQ. All NASDAQ stocks have four-letter ticker symbols to distinguish them from their Big Brothers on the "Big Board." With more letters available to them, some of these companies can get quite creative with their names. For example,
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ARIA- Aria Pharmaceuticals
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BOSS-Building One Systems, Inc.
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EGRP-E-Trade Securities
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CSCO-Cisco Systems
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GAME-Gametek, In.c
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HELO-Hello Direct Telecommunications
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KISS-Kismit Energy Co.
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MACE-Mace Security Systems, Intl.
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MSFT-Microsoft
Color Codes
Ticker symbols are offered in colors to give you a quick idea of which way
your investment is going during the trading day.
A red symbol means the stock price is currently down from the price where it closed
yesterday. A green symbol means the stock price is up from the closing price that it sold for the day before. And a blue/white symbol means no change in the stock price from the day before.
Each price is also followed by a triangle. If the triangle is green and
points upward, the stock price has risen that day by the amount that follows.
If the stock price is followed by a red triangle and points down, the stock
price has fallen that day by the amount that follows. Stock prices are
currently quoted in fractions----1/2, 1/4, 3/8, 3/16---but this will change
to the decimal system of dollars and cents beginning in 2002. For example,
CSCO 123-1/2  3-1/2 means the current
price of Cisco is at $123.50 and that is a $3.50 increase in share price from
where it closed the day before.
AOL 59  3/4 means that America OnLine is
selling at $59.00 and the price is down 75 cents from the where it closed
the day before.
Large trades of stock in 10,000 share blocks often get reported on the tape
as:
LU 10,000s - 61- 3/4(green triangle pointing upward) 3/4 means someone just
bought 10,000 shares of Lucent Technology at $61.75 a share and the price is
up by 75 cents from where Lucent's stock price closed the day before.
Finding a Ticker Symbol
If you don't know the symbol for a company you can easily find it on any
financial web site from AOL personal finance to Bloomberg.com, Fool.com,
CNBC.com or CBSMarketwatch.com. Click on any of these web sites and look
for the small blank box for getting stock quotes. Click on the words, "look
up symbol" and type in a company name---one word is sufficient. A list of
all companies with an exact or similar name will quickly appear and lead you
through the steps to find the right ticker symbol for your investment.
Start your financial education now by going to any financial web site and
look up the name of your company or any investment that you are considering.
Mutual funds, which have five letters and end in "X" can be researched on a
stock quote site but you won't find them on the ticker tape.
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