Page 46 - Trading #101 Course – Part One: Trading Basics

TRADING #101 COURSE – PART ONE: TRADING BASICS /2017-10-06

The phrase ticker symbol refers to the symbols that were printed on the tape of a ticker
tape machine back in 1870 through 1970. The word ticker refers to the ticking sound
that the machine made as it printed the tape with the updated price and volume
numbers. This machine became obsolete in the 1960s as it was replaced with television
sets and computers to transmit this financial information.
The symbols themselves live on, though, and are still used to identify financial
instruments. Table 6.6 illustrates some of the most common U.S. stock symbols.

Symbols occasionally evolve and change when publicly traded companies merge. For
example, in 1999 when Exxon merged with Mobil Oil, Exxon changed its phonetic ticker
symbol XON to XOM to reflect the new company merger.
In this day and age of common mergers and acquisitions, changing a ticker symbol is a
normal occurrence.

Table 6.6 Stock Symbols

Company Name Symbol
Agilent Technologies A
Apple Inc. AAPL
AT&T T
Bank of America BAC
Citigroup C
Coca-Cola Company KO
Exxon Mobil XOM
Ford Motor Company F
Google GOOG
H.J. Heinz Company HNZ
Harley-Davidson Inc. HOG
Hewlett-Packard HPQ
Hyatt H
Intel INTC
Kellogg K
3M Company MMM
Macy’s, Inc. M
Microsoft MSFT
Target Corporation TGT
Texas Instruments TXN
United States Steel X
Visa, Inc. V
Wal-Mart WMT
Walgreens WAG

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