2006-06-14 04:18:55 · 3 answers · asked by shyoro_77 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
In the old days (well, prior to the early 1980s) the NYSE transmitted prices using a ticker tape. The ticker tape had a slow baud rate -- printing about 8-10 characters per second. That meant that they needed to cut down on the number of characters sent on the tape. They not only abbreviated the name to the three character symbol, they also truncated the price. For example, if the price was 85 1/2 they would transmit 5 1/2. They would only do this when it was unambiguous.
2006-06-14 05:26:54 · answer #1 · answered by Ranto 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is an easy, efficient way to identify individual corporations and and various classes of corporate stocks. An other way would be to identify them is to use the CUSIP,a 9-15(?) digit number which is more accurate, but very difficult for people to employ.
Consider your friends, Charles and Bill Jones. They both have different CUSIPs (9 digit Social Security numbers). Would you want to identify each of them by their own numbers?
Example: "Hey 372-45-8467, lt's go play tennis".
2006-06-14 04:41:30 · answer #2 · answered by Puzzleman 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's easier than spelling out the company names and it's for quick reference.
2006-06-14 04:22:50 · answer #3 · answered by csucdartgirl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋