A special instruction used when placing a trade to indicate how long an order will remain active before it is executed or expires. Time-in-force options allow traders to be more specific about the time parameters in which an order is activated. This is especially important for active traders. Taobiz explains Time In Force Time-in-force options will depend on your broker. Most often, they include options such as day order, good 'till canceled, fill or kill, etc. For example, a day order, as the name implies, is valid for the current trading day. Good 'till canceled orders, on the other hand, will remain live until they are canceled.
The minimum upward or downward movement in the price of a security. Taobiz explains Tick Historically, stocks didn't trade in decimals. A stock would move in amounts of 1/8, 1/16, or 1/32 of a dollar (the tick). This changed when the decimal system was brought in.
A computerized device that relays financial information to investors around the world, including the stock symbol, the latest price and the volume on securities as they are traded. Taobiz explains Ticker Tape Before computers, the quotations on a ticker tape were stamped on a thin piece of paper.
An arrangement of characters (usually letters) representing a particular security listed on an exchange or otherwise traded publicly. When a company issues securities to the public marketplace, it selects an available ticker symbol for its securities which investors use to place trade orders. Every listed security has a unique ticker symbol, facilitating the vast array of trade orders that flow through the financial markets every day. Taobiz explains Ticker Symbol Stock symbols are the most recognized type of ticker symbol. Stocks listed and traded on U.S. exchanges such as the NYSE have symbols with up to three letters. Nasdaq-listed stocks have four-letter symbols. Ticker symbols for options are structured to represent the underlying stock ticker they are based on and also their expiration date and contract type (either a put or a call option). Mutual fund ticker symbols are usually alphanumeric and end with the letter X to differentiate them from stock symbols.
A now defunct rule that placed restrictions on when a short sale may be executed. Tick test rules dictated that a short sale could be made only in two situations: 1. When the price of the particular stock was higher than the last trade price (an uptick). 2. When there was no change in the last trade price. The previous trade price had to be higher than the trade price that preceded it (a zero uptick or zero plus tick) Also known as the "short sale rule". Taobiz explains Tick Test Rules This rule was intended to prevent investors from destabilizing a stock's price when it was falling. However, on July 6, 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission struck Rule 10a-1, the regulation that put the uptick restrictions in place, from the books.
The number of stocks trading on an uptick minus the number of stocks trading on a downtick. Taobiz explains Tick Index This is a very short-term indicator. A positive tick index is good (the higher the better).
The act of providing material non-public information about a publicly-traded company to a person who is not authorized to have the information. This is an illegal act. Information is considered non-public until it has been publicly released and the financial markets have had sufficient time to digest the impact the information may have had on prices. Taobiz explains Tipping Investment bankers are often in possession of material non-public information that can be used for tipping, although occurrences of tipping are very rare. In the event that a person unknowingly passes on a tip, he or she may still have performed a criminal act by being careless with the information. Tips can be used to make insider trades before the information becomes available to the public. The law prohibits tippees, or those who receive material non-public information, from making financial transactions based on the information they have received.
Advice from a person who claims to have inside information, such as substantially higher than expected earnings or government approval of corporate mergers, that will materially impact a stock's price but actually doesn't. Taobiz explains Tip From A Dip Sometimes referred to as a "tipster" or "tipper", these people should be avoided at all costs. Government regulations prevent persons with material insider information, such as corporate executives and board members, from disclosing their knowledge to family members, friends, or other persons for the purpose of profiting off virtually guaranteed changes in a stock's price once the news hits the street; anyone with decent insider information is effectively prevented from profiting from it on the open market.