Stockwatch Symbol Guide
Available Items
Nasdaq Equity Symbols
New York/Amex Equity Symbols
US Index Symbols
US Option Symbols
US Mutual Fund Symbols
Foreign Exchange Symbols
Canadian Equity Symbols
Canadian Mutual Fund Symbols
Canadian Option Symbols
Canadian Futures Symbols
Special Indexes - Tick, Trin, Advances, Declines
Available Items
- US equities, options, indexes and mutual funds
- Canadian equities, indexes, options, futures and mutual funds
- Foreign Exchange quotes
- Commodities and US futures are NOT available at this time
Nasdaq Equity Symbols
Nasdaq assigns symbols for all Nasdaq and OTC issues including OTCBB and Pink Sheets.
Nasdaq symbols are up to 5 characters with no suffixes.
The first 4 characters are the base symbol for the company.
If there is a 5th character it represents one of the following:
| A | Class A |
| B | Class B |
| C | Issuer granted an exception to NASDAQ-quoted company standards for a limited time |
| D | New |
| E | Delinquent in filings with the SEC |
| F | Foreign |
| G | First bond |
| H | Second bond |
| I | Third bond |
| J | Voting |
| K | Non-voting |
| L | Misc |
| N | Fourth preferred |
| N | Third preferred |
| O | Second preferred |
| P | First preferred |
| Q | Bankruptcy |
| R | Rights |
| S | Shares of beneficial interest |
| T | With warrants or with rights |
| U | Units |
| V | When issued and when distributed |
| W | Warrants |
| X | Mutual Funds |
| Y | American Depository Receipts |
| Z | Misc |
New York/Amex Equity Symbols
NYSE and AMEX are consolidated into a single feed with exchange code 'Z'.
The base symbol is optionally followed by a suffix:
.PR - preferred
The base symbol or a suffix may be followed by a period and a character to indicate the share class.
US Indexes
All US index symbols begin with a dollar sign "$" which is followed by an alphanumeric string.
This is to avoid symbol conflicts with equities.
If the index is generated by an exchange such as Nasdaq or NYSE, use that exchange code.
Non-exchange indexes, such as the Dow Jones indexes, use exchange code I.
US Option Symbols
US option Format is XXXMDDYYSSS.SS where XXX is a 1 to 5 character symbol which represents the underlying equity.
M is the single character call/put and expiry month code (explained below).
DDYY are the two digit day of month and two digit year of the expiry date.
SSS.SS is the strike price.
US Mutual Fund Symbols
US mutual fund data is received from the Nasdaq feed, therefore the symbols conform to the Nasdaq standard above.
Each fund has a five letter symbol of which the last letter is always X.
The exchange code is Q.
Foreign Currency Exchange Symbols
Foreign currency exchange quotes are available for a wide variety of foreign currencies.
The symbol format is FX$AAA/BBB where AAA and BBB are the ISO three-letter currency codes.
For instance, the Canadian dollar to US dollar rate symbol is FX$CAD/USD and the reverse rate is FX$USD/CAD.
Currency quote symbols are filed in the US region under exchange code I.
The names of these symbols are of the form Forex AAA COUNTRY UNIT / BBB COUNTRY UNIT where AAA and BBB are the ISO codes,
which are followed by the country's name and the name of the currency.
Therefore you can use the country name or currency unit in the symbol search form.
For instance:
Symbol FX$CAD/GBP - name is: Forex CAD Canada Dollar / GBP United Kingdom Pound Sterling
Symbol FX$AFN/CHF - name is: Forex AFN Afghanistan Afghani / CHF Switzerland Franc
ISO codes can be found here: http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/popstds/currencycodeslist.html.
Canadian Equity Symbols
Consist of a 1 to 3 character symbol root, optionally followed by one of:
.PR - preferred share
.DB - debenture
.IR - installment receipt
.WT - warrant
.RT - right
.UN - unit
The base symbol or a suffix may be followed by .X to indicate a class of share.
Canadian Mutual Fund Symbols
Canadian mutual fund symbols are of the form
GGG*FFF where GGG represents the fund group, and FFF
represents the specific fund.
Canadian Option Symbols
Canadian option Format is XXXYYMMDDCSSS.SS where XXX is a 1 to 5 character symbol which represents the underlying equity.
YYMMDD is the six digit expiry date.
C is C for call or P for put.
SSS.SS is the strike price.
Option Call/Put and Expiry Month Codes:
| Call Codes |
|
Put Codes |
|
Month |
| A |
|
M |
|
January |
| B |
|
N |
|
February |
| C |
|
O |
|
March |
| D |
|
P |
|
April |
| E |
|
Q |
|
May |
| F |
|
R |
|
June |
| G |
|
S |
|
July |
| H |
|
T |
|
August |
| I |
|
U |
|
September |
| J |
|
V |
|
October |
| K |
|
W |
|
November |
| L |
|
X |
|
December |
Canadian Futures Symbols
Format is
XXXYM where XXX is a 3 character symbol which represents the underlying equity
M is the delivery month code.
Y is the last digit of the delivery year
Month Codes
| Month |
|
Month Code |
|
| January |
|
F |
|
| February |
|
G |
|
| March |
|
H |
|
| April |
|
J |
|
| May |
|
K |
|
| June |
|
M |
|
| July |
|
N |
|
| August |
|
Q |
|
| September |
|
U |
|
| October |
|
V |
|
| November |
|
X |
|
| December |
|
Z |
|
Special Indexes
These are in region U.
| NYSE | Amex | NASDAQ |
| Issues Advanced | C$ISSADVN | C$ISSADVA | C$ISSADVQ |
| Issues Declined | C$ISSDECN | C$ISSDECA | C$ISSDECQ |
| Issues Unchanged | C$ISSUNCN | C$ISSUNCA | C$ISSUNCQ |
| Total Volume | C$VOLTOTN | C$VOLTOTA | C$VOLTOTQ |
| Volume of Advances | C$VOLADVN | C$VOLADVA | C$VOLADVQ |
| Volume of Declines | C$VOLDECN | C$VOLDECA | C$VOLDECQ |
| Volume of Unchanged | C$VOLUNCN | C$VOLUNCA | C$VOLUNCQ |
| Tick Index | C$TICKIXN | C$TICKIXA | C$TICKIXQ |
| Short Term Trading Index | C$ARMSIXN | C$ARMSIXA | C$ARMSIXQ |