# How to read a stock ticker **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-read-a-stock-ticker/584907 "2011-06-09T20:45:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-read-a-stock-ticker/584907/1 "2011-06-09T20:45:28Z")
The crawl at the bottom of the screen on CNBC (or any other financial news source)…I understand (I think) that each entry is a trade: the company name/symbol, number of shares, price of that trade, and up or down on the day. Which trades get listed? All of them? Why are there two streams going (top and bottom half)? Why does the bottom half move more slowly than the top half? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-read-a-stock-ticker/584907/2 "2011-06-09T22:28:35Z")
They’re two different tickers. I think the fast one is the NYSE and the slow one is the NASDQ. But this is going from memory. I’ve not paid any attention for some time. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-read-a-stock-ticker/584907/3 "2011-06-09T22:55:46Z")
All trades get listed. The information gives the stock symbol, the price, and the number of shares. If no number of shares are listed, then it’s assumed 100 shares. Thus “GE 19.75” means 100 shares of GE at $19.75. “T 35.00 10,000” means 10,000 shares of AT&T at $34. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-read-a-stock-ticker/584907/4 "2011-06-09T23:18:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > All trades get listed. The information gives the stock symbol, the price, and the number of shares. If no number of shares are listed, then it’s assumed 100 shares. > > Thus “GE 19.75” means 100 shares of GE at $19.75. > “T 35.00 10,000” means 10,000 shares of AT&T at $34. Wait, what? I read the bottom as “10,000 shares of T at $35.00.” Or am I missing something? Joe ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-read-a-stock-ticker/584907/5 "2011-06-10T01:10:41Z")
A typo. It should have been $35. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-read-a-stock-ticker/584907/6 "2011-06-10T17:53:48Z")
They’re different speeds so as to aid reading. If they were the same speed, you could only read one or the other. Moving differently causes the symbols to stagger. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > A typo. It should have been $35. Each. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-read-a-stock-ticker/584907/7 "2011-06-10T18:12:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > All trades get listed. The information gives the stock symbol, the price, and the number of shares. If no number of shares are listed, then it’s assumed 100 shares. I can’t imagine that all trades could be listed in the crawl at the bottom of the CNBC screen. I mean, there are hundreds of stocks on the NYSE and presumably dozens or hundreds of trades on each in a given hour. How could the crawl possibly show them all in real time? ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-read-a-stock-ticker/584907/8 "2011-06-10T18:33:18Z")
According to wiki ([News ticker - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNBC_Ticker)) it lists sales of high-volume stocks during trading, and an alphabetical list of such stocks after hours.