The symbol that represents a company's stock on an exchange. It is next to the company name on every page of the Stock Detail screens.
Benefit
The ticker can be the most dependable way to identify a stock, because it is less likely to change than a stock name. In publications such as the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times, company names are often abbreviated beyond recognition due to space limitations, so using the ticker often offers a more convenient method of locating the stock.
Origin
The company’s ticker symbol is found on the first page of its 10-K form.
For the Pros
Ticker symbols for companies listed on the NYSE or AMEX are three letters long. Companies traded on the Nasdaq National Market or Nasdaq Small-Cap exchanges commonly consist of four to five letters.
Tip: Tickers for multiple share classes are denoted with a period followed by the share class letter. For example, the ticker symbol for the B share class of Berkshire Hathaway is BRK.B.