Teach Me To Trade

Symbol Format, Quotes vs. Charts

The first thing to understand is that the price quotes and the charts come from two separate sources. Each uses a little different format.

For quotes on indices, use the format shown below. Let me know if you have any questions.

Some symbols will require dots in front of the index symbol, however not all. IE: To get the Nasdaq Composite, please type: .COMP (a dot in front of the index symbol.) To get the S&P 100, please type: OEX (no dot in front of it.) The top 3 indexes are in bold letters. Please keep this list as a reference:

Exchange or Index

Symbol

*Dow Jones Industrial Average

.DJIA

*Dow Jones Transport Average

.DJT

*Dow Jones Utilities Average

.DJU

NASDAQ Composite

.COMP

NASDAQ 100

NDX

S & P 500

.SPX

S & P 100

OEX

NYSE Composite

NYA

Russell 2000

RUT

Russell 1000

RUI

Semiconductor Index

SOX

Internet Index

IIX

Volatility index

VIX

NYSE TICK Index

.TICK

NYSE ARMS index

.TRIN

30-year bond

TYX

10-year note

TNX

5-year note

FVX

Gold & Silver Index

XAU

Willshire 5000

TMW

* All Dow Jones related symbols have a dot in front of them.

For charts, the format is a little different. Charts come from StockCharts.com. You can find the StockCharts.com symbol format by clicking on the following link. http://stockcharts.com/charts/catalog/09.html. You will need to enter them in the StockCharts.com format.

You may consider creating a separate folder (Portfolio>New>Folder) as illustrated here to make it easier to view quotes and charts on Indices.

(Since 2002)