Editing Ticker symbol (section)

==Interpreting the symbol==
Stock symbols are unique identifiers assigned to each security traded on a particular market. A stock symbol can consist of letters, numbers, or a combination of both, and is a way to uniquely identify that stock.  The symbols were kept as short as possible to reduce the number of characters that had to be printed on the [[ticker tape]], and to make it easy to recognize by traders and investors.

The allocation of symbols and formatting conventions is specific to each stock exchange.  In the US, for example, stock tickers are typically between 1 and 4 letters and represent the company name where possible.  For example, US-based computer company stock [[Apple Inc.]] traded on the [[NASDAQ]] exchange has the symbol AAPL, while the motor company Ford's stock that is traded on the [[New York Stock Exchange]] has the single-letter ticker F.  In Europe, most exchanges use three-letter codes; for example, Dutch consumer goods company [[Unilever]] traded on the [[Euronext|Amsterdam Euronext]] exchange has the symbol UNA.  In Asia, numbers are often used as stock tickers to avoid issues for international investors when using non-[[Latin script]]s.  For example, the bank [[HSBC]]'s stock traded on the [[Hong Kong Stock Exchange]] has the ticker symbol 0005.

Symbols sometimes change to reflect mergers. Prior to the 1999 merger with [[Mobil Oil]], [[Exxon]] used a phonetic spelling of the company "XON" as its ticker symbol.  The symbol of the firm after the merger was "XOM".  Symbols are sometimes reused. In the US the single-letter symbols are particularly sought after as vanity symbols.  For example, since March 2008 [[Visa Inc.]] has used the symbol V that had previously been used by [[Vivendi]] which had delisted and given up the symbol.<ref name="Mantell">{{cite news|last=Mantell|first=Ruth|title=Vivendi voluntarily delists from NYSE, ends ADR program|url=http://articles.marketwatch.com/2006-08-03/news/30830338_1_vivendi-shares-delists-american-depositary-receipt-program|access-date=14 January 2013|newspaper=Marketwatch|date=3 August 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116102143/http://articles.marketwatch.com/2006-08-03/news/30830338_1_vivendi-shares-delists-american-depositary-receipt-program|archive-date=16 January 2013}}</ref>

To fully qualify a stock, both the ticker and the exchange or country of listing needs to be known. On many systems both must be specified to uniquely identify the security.  This is often done by appending the location or exchange code to the ticker.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Example [[Vodafone|Vodafone Group plc]] stock ticker symbol
|-
! Location
! [[Reuters Instrument Code]]
! [[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] ticker
!Yahoo ticker
|-
| London Stock Exchange
| VOD.L
| VOD:LN
|VOD.L
|-
| Nasdaq
| VOD.O or VOD.OQ
| VOD:US
|VOD
|-
| Stock Exchange of Singapore
| VOD.SI
| VOD:SP
|VOD.SI
|-
|}

=== Other identifiers ===
Although stock tickers identify a security, they are exchange dependent, generally limited to stocks, and can change.  These limitations have led to the development of other codes in financial markets to identify securities for [[Settlement (finance)|settlement]] purposes.  The most prevalent of these is the [[International Securities Identifying Number]] (ISIN).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.isin.com/|title=Home|website=ISIN, CUSIP, LEI, SEDOL, WKN, CFI Codes, Database Securities Apply Application Register}}</ref>  An ISIN uniquely identifies a [[Security (finance)|security]] and its structure is defined in [[ISO 6166]].  Securities for which ISINs are issued include [[Bond (finance)|bonds]], [[commercial paper]], [[stock]]s, and [[Warrant (finance)|warrant]]s.  The ISIN code is a 12-character alpha-numerical code that does not contain information characterizing financial instruments, but serves for uniform identification of a security at trading and settlement.

The ISIN identifies the security, not the [[stock exchange|exchange]] (if any) on which it trades; it is, therefore, not a replacement for the ticker symbol.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.isin.net/isin-etf/ |title=ISIN for ETFs |publisher=ISIN.net |accessdate=2023-03-15}}</ref> For instance, [[Daimler AG]] stock trades on twenty-two different stock exchanges worldwide and is priced in five foreign currencies; it has the same ISIN on each (DE0007100000), though not the same ticker symbol. ISIN cannot specify a particular trade in this case, and another identifier, typically the three- or four-letter exchange code (such as the [[Market Identifier Code]]), will have to be specified in addition to the ISIN.

===Symbol for stock market indices===
While usually a stock ticker identifies a security that can be traded, [[stock market index|stock market indices]] are also sometimes assigned a symbol, even though they can generally not be traded. Symbols for indices are usually distinguished by adding a symbol in front of the name, such as a [[circumflex#Freestanding|circumflex]] (or 'caret') {{char|^}} or a dot.<ref name="analyzerxl">{{Cite web |url=http://www.analyzerxl.de/symbols.htm |title=Stock quotes Available For Download |quote=Market Indices, such as the [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]]. Ticker symbols for these items all begin with the circumflex (caret) symbol, '^'.}}</ref> For example, [[Reuters]] lists the [[Nasdaq Composite]] index under the symbol ''.IXIC''.<ref name="reuters">{{Cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/indices |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214190514/http://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/indices |title=All American Indices |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-12-14 |date=2017-09-07|website=[[Reuters]] }}</ref>