Quotes Help

Stockwatch Symbol Guide...

Exchange Codes
Quick Quotes
Quote/Trade Data and Format
Nasdaq / OTCBB / Pink Sheets / Other
Market Depth
Nasdaq Level 2
Daily Closes
Short History
Symbol Search
Company Search
Options
Live Ticker
Close Price File Formats

Exchange Codes

Base symbols are unique to a company within Canada and within the US, but the same symbol may be used simultaneously in both regions to represent two different companies. Every company has a primary listing on one exchange. If a company has multiple classes of stock, they are distinguished by a suffix that is added to the base symbol.

To restrict a quote to a single exchange, which may help keep your quote displays uncluttered, precede it with a one character exchange code and a colon eg Q:MSFT Z:IBM T:BCE.

Code	Region	Exchange
U	US	Special code that matches any US symbol
C	Canada	Special code that matches any Canadian symbol
Z	US	Composite feed including the New York and American exchanges
Q	US	Nasdaq, OTCBB, Pink Sheets and Other OTC
O	US	OPRA - US Options
S	US	S&P indexes
P	US	PBOT indexes
B	US	CBOE indexes
I	US	Non-exchange and other indexes such as Dow Jones, Russel, Longon Gold Fix
T	Canada	TSX - Toronto Stock Exchange
V	Canada	TSX Venture Exchange
M	Canada	Montreal Exchange
C	Canada	CSE
E	Canada	Cboe Canada Exchange
F	Canada	Canadian Mutual Funds

Quick Quotes

You can enter up to 20 symbols in the Quick Quotes form. If you wish to restrict a symbol to one exchange, precede it with an exchange code as described above. Symbols can be separated with a space or comma.

When you get a quick quote through the power bar at the top of the page, you can choose US or CA as the default region. No exchange code is necessary for symbols in your default region. To get a quote for a symbol in another region, you must specify an exchange code as described above.

Quote/Trade Data and Format

ATS exchange codes
Canadian ATS (Alternative Trading System) quotes may include an exchange code identifying the ATS:

Code	ATS
U	NEO ATS
A	Alpha
O	Omega
P	Pure
X	Chi-X
H	CX2
D	CXD
L	LiquidNet
M	TriAct
I	Instinet
Y	Lynx
S	CS2

Bid/Ask sizes
These are the numbers to the side of the bid and ask prices. This is the number of shares on the bid and ask, in thousands. Most other services provide this information in "board lots" which is not the same.
For US stocks a board lot (or round lot) is usually 100 shares.
For Canadian stocks the board lot size depends on the previous close price. If the previous close is under $0.10 a board lot is 1000 shares. Otherwise if the previous close is under $1.00 a board lot is 500 shares. Otherwise a board lot is 100 shares. In some rare cases a boardlot may differ from this formula.

Trade Markers
The Canadian exchanges provide "Trade Markers" which we display in trade lists.

A	Delayed Sale	A trade that was not entered at trade time.
B	Delayed Delivery	A transaction in which delivery of the security will be delayed beyond the normal settlement period. Delayed delivery trades are included in the volume, value, and number of transaction totals but do not affect the open, high, low, last sale, and close prices.
C	Contingent Trade	Results from an order (e.g. to sell) placed by a PO on behalf of a client for one security which is contingent on the execution of a second order (e.g. to buy) placed by the same client for an offsetting volume of a related security. Contingent trades can set the open, high, low, last sale and close prices. They are also included in the volume, value, and number of transactions.
D	Cash	A trade that is settled the next day. Cash trades are included in the volume, value, and transaction totals but do not affect open, high, low, last sale, and close prices.
E	Non Boardlot	(Oddlot) Quantity of shares is not sufficient to comprise a boardlot.
F	Mandatory Cash	For specific reasons (expiry of rights, redemptions, etc.) all trades in the stock must be settled in cash. In this case, trades will set open, high, low, last prices (as indicated by the trade markers), and are included in the volume, value, transaction totals. These trades do not, however, affect weekly, monthly, or yearly, high and low prices.
G	VWAP Trade	A transaction for the purpose of executing trades at a volume-weighted average price of the security traded for a continuous period on or during a trading day on the exchange. VWAP trades are included in the volume, value, and transaction totals but do not affect open, high, low, last sale, and close prices.
H	Inactive Board	An issuer with business activity levels that fail to meet the minimum continuous listing requirements of the TSX Venture Exchange, which are referred to in TSX Venture policies as the Tier 2 Tier Maintenance Requirements. Trading activity levels have no bearing on an issuer's designation as an "Inactive Board" for the purposes of TSX Venture Exchange policies.
I	Inactive Issuer
J	Capital Pool	The Capital Pool Company (CPC) program is unique to TSX Venture Exchange and is defined in Policy 2.4 of the Exchange's Corporate Finance Manual. The CPC program permits an IPO to be conducted and an Exchange listing to be achieved by a newly created company that has no assets, other than cash, and has not commenced commercial operations. The CPC then uses this pool of funds to identify and evaluate assets or businesses which, when acquired, qualify the CPC for listing as a regular Tier 1 or Tier 2 Issuer on the Exchange. Should the CPC not complete a Qualifying Transaction within 18 months of its date of listing, it may be suspended from trading or delisted. In consideration of the restrictions on this type of issuer as reflected in Policy 2.4, the Exchange has added an identifier of ".P" to the trading symbols for CPCs to differentiate them from other listed companies
K	Sets the Last Price
L	Sets the Open Price
M	Special Terms Trading	All trades executed and settled in other than the regular manner. Special Terms Trades do not affect the open, high, low, and last prices (as indicated by the trade markers). "Special terms" trades are included in the volume, value, transactions totals.
N	Non-voting Shares
O	Basis Trade	A transaction whereby a basket of securities or an index participation unit is transacted at prices achieved through the execution of related exchange-traded derivative instruments, which may include index futures, index options and index participation units in an amount that will correspond to an equivalent market exposure. Basis trades are included in the volume, value, and transaction totals but do not affect open, high, low, last sale, and close prices.
P	Accrued Interest Stock	Used for debentures. Accrued interest will be calculated and added to the price of the trade for settlement purposes.
Q	Market On Close Trade	An explanation from the TSX web site: https://www.tsx.com/trading/tsx-venture-exchange/order-types-and-features/market-on-close
R	Restricted Voting Shares	Voting is restricted to a specified portion of the shares held.
S	STS (Special Trading Session)	Results from an order placed by a PO on behalf of a client for execution in the Special Trading Session at the last sale price. STS trades are executed at the closing price and are included in the volume, value of number of transactions.
U	Trading in $US.
V	Subordinate Voting Shares	Shares belonging to the class containing the fewest votes per share (if the stock is divided into more than 1 class)
W	By-Pass Trade	Regulatory Trade – indicating the "hidden" or iceberg portion of the order was not satisfied. Depending on whether the trade was used to move the price down in accordance with UMIR, or the ByPass Cross was put up, it may or may not set the last sale price. Please use the K marker to determine the last sale price. They are also included in the volume, value, and number of transactions.
X	Internal Cross	An "internal cross" is defined as a cross between two client accounts of a Participating Organization which are managed by a single firm acting as portfolio manager with discretionary authority to manage the investment portfolio granted by each of the clients.
Z	Cross - Other	One of: Bypass, Cash, Delayed Delivery, Delayed Sale, Special Terms. These cross trades are included in the volume, value, and transaction totals but do not affect open, high, low, last sale, and close prices.

Nasdaq / OTCBB / Pink Sheets / Other OTC

The differences between Nasdaq and the various OTC quotation services is a common source of confusion. Nasdaq assigns the four (or five) character symbols for all of these in order to avoid conflicts.

There are two main groups of security quotations: Nasdaq and OTC (over-the-counter). Nasdaq listings have the highest listing standards and must meet stringent SEC reporting rules. This includes of course the blue chips such as Microsoft and Cisco. If a company fails to maintain its listing requirements it may be booted off Nasdaq and demoted to OTC.

The rest of the securities are OTC. These are not actually "listings" as they are not traded on any exchange or market. All trades in OTC securities are reported to the NASD and are disseminated by Nasdaq on their Level 1 feed. (There are some foreign OTC securities for which the NASD does not disseminate the trades - just an end of day volume and price summary.) There are several sources of OTC quotations:

OTCBB (OTC Bulletin Board) - Securities quoted on the OTCBB must be current in their SEC reporting obligations. One or more market makers are assigned to each security. The OTCBB disseminates market maker quotes (similar to but not part of Nasdaq Level 2) on the Nasdaq Level 1 feed. If a company fails to maintain current SEC reporting status it is booted off the OTCBB.

Pink Sheets - Securities are quoted on the Pink Sheets if a market maker has registered it there. There are no particular SEC reporting requirements, but quotation of OTC securities on the Pink Sheets is subject to Securites Exchange Act Rule 15c2-11. It is possible for a security to be quoted on both the OTCBB and Pink Sheets. Pink Sheets inside quotes and Level 2 are disseminated on a proprietary Pink Sheets feed that requires a separate Pink Sheets subscription to view.

Other OTC - All remaining OTC securities are "Other" also known as the "Grey market." Because they are not quoted on any quotation service, bid/ask quotes are not available. Foreign companies have a five letter symbol ending with "F" and trades for some of these are not reported.

Stockwatch displays the market when you get a detailed quote. You will see one of "Nasdaq", "OTCBB", "OTC - Pink Sheets", "OTC - Other" or "OTC - Foreign".

You can find more information at http://www.otcbb.com and http://www.pinksheets.com.

Market Depth

These Market Depth services are available:

• Nasdaq Level 2
• OTCBB Market Maker Quotes
• Pink Sheets Level 2
• Toronto Stock Exchange - Depth by Price or Market Book
• TSX Venture Exchange- Depth by Price, Depth by Order, or Market Book

TSX/TSX-V Depth By Price shows the top five bid / ask dollar amounts on the board. The size available (in thousands) at each price, and the number of orders at each price. Special terms orders, such as all-or-nothing, are not included.

TSX-V Depth By Order is also available for the TSX-V only indicating the top 10 individual bid/ask orders, plus price, size and brokerage house. Special terms orders are not included.

TSX/TSX-V Market Book. This shows you every individual order in the trading engine, including special terms orders.

To subscribe to Market Depth options, click "Your Account" at the top of the page, then click "Subscription Options".

Nasdaq Level 2

Market Maker ID's beginning with an asterisk (*) represent the best bid or offer from one of the participating Market Centres.
*Nbbo - National Best Bid/Offer - composite best bid/offer from all Market Centres
*Nsdq - best bid/offer from Nasdaq SuperMontage participants
*Nadf - best bid/offer from National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) Alternative Display Facility (ADF) (includes Instinet ECN - mmid INCA)
*Cinc - Cincinnatti Stock Exchange (includes Island ECN, formerly mmid ISLD)
*Pacf - Pacific Stock Exchange (includes Archipelago ECN, formerly mmid ARCA)
*Amex - American Stock Exchange
*Chic - Chicago Stock Exchange
*Phil - Philadelphia Stock Exchange
*Nyse - New York Stock Exchange
*Bost - Boston Stock Exchange
*Ints - International Securities Exchange ECN

If there is a number following the Market Maker ID, it indicates the Quote Type.
1 - Passive Market Maker
3 - Syndicate quote
4 - Pre-syndicate Quote
5 - Penalty quote
6 - MM position deleted
No number indicates a Regular or No Quote

As of 2007, Nasdaq Market Makers have begun quoting stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange. Thus there are Nasdaq Level 2 quotes available for these stocks. In this case, the Level 2 best bid/offer may not match the NY/Amex Level 1 best bid/offer. This is because the Nasdaq Level 2 quote only includes Nasdaq Market Maker quotes. The Level 1 quote for these stocks comes from the exchange and includes all other sources of quotes besides the Nasdaq Market Makers. For Nasdaq listings, the Nasdaq Level 2 best bid/offer is necessarily the same as the Level 1 best bid/offer.

Daily Closes

Download open/high/low/close /change and volume stats for any stock in the USA or Canada. You can get one day at a time, or a whole year at a time, going back as far as September 1986 for the Vancouver, Toronto and Alberta exchanges. US exchanges and the Montreal exchange stats go back to December 1993.

Looking for Today's close prices?

1. Select the exchange you want and you'll get today's close price for every stock traded on that exchange.
2. Scroll down the data file formats and select the one that works for your computer.

Looking for a One Year Daily Close history for a single stock?

1. Enter the stock symbol. If you're not sure of it, go to Locate a Company, see link on main page
2. Scan through the date ranges and check the download you want.
3. Scroll down the data file formats and select the one that works for your computer.

Short History

Short history data is currently limited to Canadian stocks

1. Enter the symbol you require.
2. Exchange is shown automatically.
3. Note: Report Dates are periodical not pre-scheduled.

Symbol Search

Actively Trading Symbol Lookup This searches the live quote database for symbols in the US or Canada that are currently active.

Company Search

This searches the Participant database for companies that are currently active, defunct, or private. You will have access to individual participants who are or have been involved with the corporations.

Options

Option data is available for US or Canadian equities and indexes

To view the option chain for an underlying equity, click the "Options" link when you get a detailed quote.

Live Ticker

If you have Internet Explorer and the ticker does not start properly.
For some users the applet seems to partially download but does not appear or start properly.

If you are affected by this please try the following:

• IE5: Select IE Menu Tools/Internet Options
• select the General tab
• look at "Temporary Internet Files" - click "Delete Files"
• click "Delete all subscription content"
• click "OK"

Then you are back to the Internet Options dialog,click the "Content" tab, look at "Certificates" and click "Publishers". You will see a list of your trusted publishers.

Look for "Canjex Publishing Ltd" and click it to select. Click "Remove" then click "OK".

Then you are back to the Internet Options dialog - click "OK" -

• Shut down IE - make sure there are no IE windows alive
• Start IE again and bring up the Java Console window
• IE5: Select menu Tools/JavaConsole

Login to Stockwatch and start the ticker in the usual way

The applet will download and you should get a "Security Warning" dialog, select "Always trust content from Canjex Publishing Ltd", click "Yes".

In the lower left of the IE window you should see "Applet initialized" and then "Applet started".

The ticker window should appear and connect to Stockwatch.

If IE hangs or does not start the ticker, do whatever it takes to kill IE and start IE again. Then bring up the Java Console window. Login to Stockwatch and try starting the ticker again. Try this a couple of times if necessary.

If the ticker still will not start, please send the contents of your Java Console to webmaster@stockwatch.com. To do this select all the text in the Java Console window, press Ctrl-C to copy to the clipboard, then start an email and press Ctrl-V to paste the text into the email.

If your ticker continues to get "cannot connect" errors, please send the contents of your Java Console to webmaster@stockwatch.com and we will confirm what the problem is.

To access your Java Console in Netscape select menu Communicator/Tools/JavaConsole, or in Internet Explorer select menu View/JavaConsole.
Then use Ctrl-A to select all the text (or select it all with the mouse), Ctrl-C to copy the text to the clipboard, then Ctrl-V to paste it into an email.

Available File Formats

ASCII - all the fields we have available

definition line: {ticker},{date},{exchange},{open},{high},{low},{close},{change},{vol},{trades}
followed by data: ABM,19960607,A,.26,.28,.23,.26,.00,186100,136

ASCII 2 - another generic format

Date is in the format MM/DD/YY

definition line: {ticker},{date},{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol}
followed by data: ABM,06/07/96,.26,.28,.23,.26,186100

Metastock

definition line: {ticker},{date},{high},{low},{close},{vol}
followed by data: ABM,960607,0.28,0.23,0.26,186100

Metastock with Open

definition line: {ticker},{date},{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol}
followed by data: ABM,960607,0.24,0.28,0.23,0.26,186100

Metastock with Open and Open Interest

definition line: {ticker},{date},{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol},{OI}
followed by data: ABM,960607,0.24,0.28,0.23,0.26,186100,0

Windows on Wall Street

This is only useful for downloading by symbol, not by date. WoW is apparently not capable of importing a daily file with multiple symbols.

definition line: {date},{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol}
followed by data: 960607,0.24,0.28,0.23,0.26,186100

NEW Windows on Wall Street

This is only useful for downloading by symbol, not by date. WoW is apparently not capable of importing a daily file with multiple symbols.

definition line (suppressed): {date},{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol},{openint}
followed by data: 960607,0.24,0.28,0.23,0.26,186100,0

20/20

Calgary is exchange code Z, date format is YYMMDD, exchange is second field. In menu 20/20Datalink/Setup/asciiHLC/import you will need to remove "openint".

definition line: {ticker},{exchange},{date},{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol}
data: ABM,Z,960607,.26,.28,.23,.26,186100

Quicken

definition line: {ticker},{date},{close}
followed by data: ABM,960607,0.26

Quicken 98

definition line: {ticker},{close},{date}
followed by data: ABM,0.26,12/31/97

Quicken 98 with hi/lo/vol

definition line: {ticker},{close},{date},{high},{low},{vol}
followed by data: ABM,0.26,12/31/97,0.28,0.23,186100

Trader's Edge

		{date}    {high}     {low}   {close}     {vol}
		950104    32.750    32.750    32.750         0
		950105    32.750    32.750    32.750       300
	

Supercharts

This is only useful for downloading by symbol, not by date.

"open","high","low","close"

New Supercharts Realtime v4-4

This is only useful for downloading by symbol, not by date.

"Date","O","H","L","C","V","OI"
11/24/97,1.850,1.850,1.600,1.600,29500,0

Powertrader

This is only useful for downloading by date, not by symbol.

		S  VSE  ABE                  0.640000     0.600000     0.640000     22500      0.600000
	

Stocktrend

This is only useful for downloading by symbol, not by date

definition line: "{symbol}","","","",""
followed by data: "YYMMDD",{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol},{oi}

Stockwiz

Volume figures are in hundreds.

definition line: {ticker},{date},{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol}
followed by data: ABM,960607,0.24,0.28,0.23,0.26,1861.00

Parity

for daily download:
{ticker},{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol}

for symbol download:
{date MM/DD/YY},{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol}

Pattern Forecaster Plus v2 www.ment.com

for symbol download:
{date YYMMDD},1600,{open},{high},{low},{close},{vol}

Old Fashioned Columnar Format

{ticker},{date},{exchange},{high},{low},{close},{vol}
TD 19960923 T 29.00 28.70 29.00 1125343

Investor Graph Charting

data in format symbol,yymmdd,open,high,low,close,volume,oi:
ABM,960607,0.24,0.28,0.23,0.26,186100,0

If you have a problem with these formats, or if you have a different one you would like to see, please email webmaster@canada-stockwatch.com.