Trading symbol

Trading symbol

See: Ticker symbol

Ticker Symbol

A series of letters, often an abbreviation, that represents a stock, option, mutual fund, or other security that trades on an exchange. A ticker symbol allows securities to be listed on an exchange's overhead board conveniently and provides a useful reference for traders and investors. NASDAQ ticker symbols have four letters, while those on the NYSE have no more than three. Mutual fund ticker symbols sometimes include numbers. Examples of ticker symbols include F, for Ford, and MSFT, for Microsoft.

Trading symbol.

All companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), or the NASDAQ Stock Market are represented by a unique combination of one to five letters of the alphabet.

Some, but not all, trading symbols are easily associated with their companies, such as GE for General Electric or YHOO for Yahoo!.

Sometimes, the exchange trading symbol varies slightly from the way the company is designated on the ticker.