Ticker symbol

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A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock or security on a particular stock exchange. Ticker symbols are arrangements of symbols or characters (generally Latin letters or digits) which provide a shorthand for investors to refer to, purchase, and research securities. Some exchanges include ticker extensions, which encode additional information such as share class, bankruptcy status, or voting rights into the ticker.^[1]

The first ticker symbol was used in 1867, following the invention of the ticker tape machine by Edward Calahan. It was used to identify shares of the Union Pacific Railroad Company.^[2][3][4]