The ‘How To’ Of Reading A Stock Ticker

Released on: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:00 AM

By Billy Florence

If you've ever watched financial programs on CNBC or Fox , you've probably noticed the numbers scrolling along the bottom of the TV screen. This is known as a stock ticker, a technology that has evolved from its initial invention by Thomas Edison. 

Edison’s improved stock ticker was called the “Universal Stock Printer.” Edison was paid $40,000 for this invention and used the funds to set up his first small laboratory and manufacturing facility in Newark, New Jersey

Ticker Symbol	This refers to the unique characters used to identify the company.
Shares Traded	This is the volume of the trade being quoted. Abbreviations are K = 1,000, M = 1,000,000 and B = 1,000,000,000
Price Traded	The price per share for the particular trade.
Change Direction	Shows whether the price was higher or lower than the previous day's closing price.
Change Amount	The difference in price from the previous day's close.

On many tickers, colors are also used to distinguish what the stock is trading at. Here is the color code used by most TV stations:

Green: Indicated the stock is trading higher than the most recent close.

Red: Indicates the stock is trading lower than the most recent close.

Blue or White: Means the stock is unchanged from the most recent closing.

Source: Investopedia

Columnist Info: Billy Florence is Vice President of IBOAI and owner of e-quadnews

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