Understanding Symbols in Financial Markets

What are symbols?

Symbols, also known as tickers, are shorthand notations for financial instruments that are publicly listed or traded on specific exchanges. These can include stocks, bonds, indices, cryptocurrencies, and other assets. For instance, "AAPL" refers to Apple Inc. stocks, while "SPX" denotes the S&P 500 index.

The length of a symbol is determined by the rules of the exchange. For example, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) permits symbols of up to four characters, whereas Nasdaq sometimes allows symbols to have up to five characters.

Different exchanges may assign different symbols to the same financial instrument. For example, Tata Motors' stock is represented as "500570" on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and as "TATAMOTORS" on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).

Additionally, tickers can represent economic data instead of tradable assets. For example, "USINTR" is the ticker for economic data concerning US interest rates.

How to access Symbol Search

You can easily explore various symbols using the Symbol Search feature on TradingView. To open the Symbol Search window, locate the search box next to the main menu or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+K on Windows or Cmd+K on macOS.

With Symbol Search, in addition to ticker symbols, you can also look for:

•        Community ideas related to any symbol

•        Scripts created using our exclusive Pine Script® language

•        Traders to follow

•        Curated watchlists called Sparks to jumpstart your market research

Be sure to explore each of these sections on our platform. We believe that trading should be a social experience and emphasize the importance of connecting you with other traders.

In the search box, enter the exact symbol or a keyword associated with the symbol you’re interested in. For example, while the symbol for the British Pound is GBP, you can simply type "pound" to see all related symbols.

In the Symbol Search window, each row displays the symbol characters on the left, a description in the center, and the data source on the right. For instance, in the first row of the image, the symbol is "GBPUSD," the description reads "British Pound/US Dollar," and the data is sourced from FXCM (Forex Capital Markets). When searching using symbol characters like "OIL," ensure you select the correct symbol by reviewing its description, as different symbols may have tickers or names that contain the same characters or may even be identical.

To help you locate the symbol you're looking for, you can apply different filters. Initially, there are tabs that categorize the list by asset type, including stocks, funds, futures, forex pairs, cryptocurrencies, bonds, economic data, and options. Additionally, each tab features its own filtering options, allowing you to specify the country, type, category, source, sector, or exchange based on your requirements.

Once you've identified the right symbol, move your cursor over it and select one of two options:

•        Open chart. This will take you to our Superchart for analyzing the chosen symbol.

•        View overview. This will direct you to the symbol's page on TradingView, where you can access a wealth of information including fundamentals, news, technical data, community insights, and more pertaining to the selected symbol.