A ticker symbol is a group of characters that represent a specific, publicly traded security that’s listed on an exchange.Ticker symbols facilitate the massive number of orders that flow through the financial markets every day. Whenever a company issues a security, the company chooses a unique ticker symbol to help investors and brokers keep the security clear. Stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange have up to three letters in their symbol. Bank of America Corporation is BAC. Nasdaq-listed stocks have four-letter symbols, or longer. Microsoft is MSFT. Extra letters at the end of a ticker symbol tell traders something more about the security or company. Mutual funds are usually alphanumeric and end with the letter X to distinguish them from stocks. If a company is in bankruptcy proceedings, a Q is added to the end of its ticker symbol. And sometimes ticker symbols can be fun. Harley Davidson’s is HOG.
