Which Exchange Is My Stock On?

Nowadays, stock exchange symbols (based on they're length) can't even tell you which stock market a stock is traded on. Sorry. It would be kinda cool if you could though, right? But why do I even bring it up?

Because not too long ago, you could. In fact this only recently changed (a few years ago) in 1997. So, before 1997, you were actually able to tell if a stock was on the NYSE. The NYSE was the first stock exchange and because of this, the first companies were listed on this exchange. These tickers all consisted of one or two letters.

After the NYSE came the AMEX. Companies were now awarded three letter stock exchange symbols. These stocks were placed on the AMEX (American Stock Exchange) or the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). So every company (pre 1997) with a three letter symbol was traded on either the AMEX or the NYSE.

Lets not forget the NASDAQ (National Association Of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations). At the time, any stock symbol with more than three letters was traded on this exchange. So what happened?

Well a law was passed where companies could change which exchange they traded on. However, we didn't just wake up one day and everything was different. In fact, it was a...

Slow Change

The first restriction that was lifted allowed stock exchange symbols with three letters that were on the NYSE, to move to the NASDAQ and keep the same symbol. Of course, policy loosened and pretty soon more companies were free to move about from exchange to exchange.

Now, companies can move from the NASDAQ to the NYSE regardless of how long they're symbol is. As you know, the NYSE is the most prestigious of all the exchanges. So, obviously they don't mind if a few companies leave. So, with all this moving around, the NASDAQ now hosts companies with symbols ranging from one to five letters.