A stock ticker is a visual representation of current stock prices. If you are an owner of a particular stock or want to follow the market index, a stock ticker can be an invaluable tool. The stock ticker can tell you how much the price of a particular stock has changed, as well as the volume of trading.
A stock ticker is available on many websites that cover financial matters. It also appears on many major cable news networks. These websites show a stock ticker for the major companies and indexes. A simple search on a stock ticker website will allow you to quickly find the ticker symbol for any company.
A stock ticker typically consists of three or four letters resembling the name of the company. Some examples include Apple Inc. (AAPL), The New York Times (NYT), Microsoft (MSFT), and Snapchat (SNAP). The letters used to represent a stock ticker are different for each exchange. Some exchanges use three-letter codes, while others use numbers, hyphens, and optional extensions.
Stock tickers began as a way to communicate information about publicly traded companies. Today, ticker symbols are used for more than just stock quotes. They are also used for branding. In the 20th century, ticker symbols became available as computer code. Today, stocks are traded digitally and can be viewed on a computer screen or smartphone. Many stocks are listed using ticker symbols in order to attract retail investors.
