Conference nyoss1::market_investing

979.0. "CNBC ticker info (Send msg to [email protected])" by FREEBE::NEARY (Bob Neary Lexington,Mass) Fri Feb 16 1996 08:36

From:	US2RMC::"[email protected]" "Ticker Guide" 16-FEB-1996 08:08:22.27

CNBC TICKER GUIDE
First in Business - First in Talk
2200 Fletcher Avenue
Fort Lee, NJ  07024
(201) 585-2622

Updated: January 17, 1996


HOW TO USE THE CNBC TICKER TO FOLLOW THE MARKET:

The Ticker is a continuous display of numbers and symbols 
that helps you understand the buying and selling activity 
of each business day.

The CNBC Ticker provides useful information about the daily 
transactions of shares, stock prices and volume data, 
commodity futures and market indices along with two widely 
followed market trend indicators, the Tick and Arms.

This guide will show you how to follow the Ticker's upper 
and lower bands, and what information you can find on a 
typical business day.

THE UPPER BAND:

8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (ET)
Commodity futures quotes begin running at 8:00 a.m. and are 
shown at :11, :21, :31, :41 and :51 after the hour, in real 
time.  These prices run until 7:00 p.m. (ET).

9:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. (ET)
Display of stock prices and volume data for trades on the 
New York Stock Exchange, beginning 15 minutes after the 
market opens at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.  (Under contract with 
the Exchanges, CNBC may only report trades on a 15-minute 
delay.)

4:15 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (ET)
An alphabetical recap of New York Stock Exchange closing 
prices for all the stocks that traded that day with the 
amount of change from the previous days close.  The 
commodity futures trading recap also appears.

THE LOWER BAND:

8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (ET)
An alphabetical recap of New York Stock Exchange, American 
Stock Exchange and Nasdaq closing prices from the previous 
day's close, punctuated by market summaries.  This recap 
displays all stocks that have traded at least once in the 
previous 20 sessions.

9:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. (ET)
CNBC's real time market summary repeats uninterrupted for 
15 minutes.

9:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. (ET)
CNBC's market summary reports continue along with American 
Stock Exchange and Nasdaq stock trades. 

4:15 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (ET)
An alphabetical recap of issues that traded that day on the 
American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq with their changes from 
the previous day's close, punctuated by market summaries.


TYPICAL TRADES:

HAL 118 .. HAL is the stock symbol, 118 is the price at 
which the trade was made.

CDS 15s22 .. CDS is the stock symbol, "s" stands for shares,
so 15s designates the volume of the trade with the last two
zeroes omitted (1500 in this example), 22 is the price.

NCR 11.000s55 .. NCR is the stock symbol, 11.000s 
designates the volume of the trade (zeroes are not omitted 
if the volume is over 10,000 shares), 55 is the price.

Stock prices are expressed in U.S. Dollars and fractional 
parts of U.S. Dollars.  For example, a stock price of 
26-1/2 equals $26.50.  Fractions are written out on the 
ticker except for sixteenths, which are designated using 
an apostrophe during trading hours.  For example, 2'3 on 
the ticker equals 2-3/16.  During the afternoon recap, a 
change of plus or minus 1/16 is indicated by just a + or -.  
For example, 5-1/2+ means the stock closed at 5-1/2, up 
1/16 during the trading day.

Due to the large number of trades, the ticker is unable 
to show every transaction.  Roughly half are selected by 
our computer, based on factors including the number of 
shares and the movement in price from the previous trade.  
The larger the volume or the price movement, the greater 
the chances that the trade will be included on the ticker.


COMMODITY FUTURES SYMBOL GUIDE:  

The first two letters of a Commodity Symbol indicate the 
name of the Commodity. (There are a few commodities with 
one-letter symbols)  The third number indicates the month 
of the contract for that commodity.  

Commodity          Sym.    Commodity           Sym.
--------------     -----   -------------       -----
S&P 500            SP      Platinum            PL
S&P 400            MD      Palladium           PA
Russell 2000       RL      Copper              HG
NYSE Index         YX      Corn                C
Value Line         KV      Wheat               W
Nikkei 225 Ind.    NK      Soybeans            S
T-Bonds            US      Soybean Oil         BO
T-Bills            TB      Soybean Meal        SM
Eurodollars        ED      Oats                O
2-Year T-Note      TU      Live Cattle         LC
5-Year T-Note      FV      Feeder Cattle       FC
10-Year T-Note     TY      Goldman Sachs 
                           Commodity Index     GI
Libor 1-month      EM      Live Hogs           LH
Muni-Bonds         MB      Pork Bellies        PB
Dollar Index       DX      Cotton              CT
Swiss Franc        SF      Lumber              LB
Deutschemark       DM      Crude Oil           CL
Japanese Yen       JY      Heating Oil         HO
British Pound      BP      Unleaded Gasoline   HU
Canadian Dollar    CD      Natural Gas         NG
Australian Dollar  AD      Sugar               SB
CRB Index          CR      Coffee              KC
Gold               GC      Cocoa               CC
Silver             SI      Orange Juice        JO



Month Due          Symbol    Month Due      Symbol
----------------   ------    -------------  ------
January            F         July           N
February           G         August         Q
March              H         September      U
April              J         October        V
May                K         November       X
June               M         December       Z




GLOSSARY OF MARKET SUMMARY COMPONENTS:


Stock Exchanges

New York Stock Exchange:  The NYSE is also known as the 
Big Board.  Listing more than 3,275 stocks, the NYSE 
generally lists the oldest, largest and best-known 
companies in the United States.  Stocks are exchanged on a 
trading floor located on Wall Street in New York City.

The Nasdaq Stock Market:  Includes the Nasdaq Stock Market 
and Nasdaq National Market, or NNM.  There is no physical 
exchange where stocks are traded.  Instead, prices are 
determined and trades are made on computer screens at 
brokerages around the country.  The Nasdaq Stock Market is 
not synonymous with the over-the-counter market.  The more 
than 5,000 Nasdaq-listed companies trade in a highly 
structured environment which has listing standards, 
real-time trade reporting, corporate governance 
requirements, affirmative obligations for market makers, 
execution services and automatic linkages with clearance 
and settlement facilities.  This cannot be said of the 
approximately 5,000 OTC securities.

American Stock Exchange: Listing approximately 940 stocks, 
the AMEX lists smaller, younger companies.  The AMEX 
trading floor is in New York City.


Futures Exchanges (Chicago)

Chicago Board of Trade (CBT): Grains, bonds and short-term 
interest rates.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME): Livestock, currencies 
and stock index futures.


Futures Exchanges (New York)

The Commodities Exchange (COMEX): Precious Metals, Copper 
and Aluminum

New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE): Cotton and Dollar Index

New York Mercantile Exchange (MERC): Petroleum and 
Precious Metals

Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (CSCE)


INDICES, AVERAGES AND OTHER MARKET INDICATORS IN THE CNBC 
MARKET SUMMARY

DJIA:  The Dow Jones Industrial Average, also referred 
to as "The Dow."  The Average is calculated using a 
formula and the common stock prices of 30 major U.S. 
industrial companies listed on the New York Stock 
Exchange.

TRAN:  The Dow Jones Transportation Average is 
calculated using the prices of 20 airline, trucking and 
railroad company stocks.

UTIL:  The Dow Jones Utility Average is a group of 15 
gas, electric and power company stocks.

DJCOMP:  The Dow Jones 65 Composite Average is calculated 
from the average of all the stocks in the Dow Jones 
Industrial, Transportation and Utility Averages.

S&P 500:  The Standard & Poor's 500 Index is calculated 
using the stock prices of 500 relatively large companies 
as measured by capitalization.  (Capitalization is the 
value of a company as measured by the market price of its 
common shares multiplied by the total number of shares
that have been issued.).  The S&P 500 is widely used as 
an indicator of stock market trends and for futures 
trading strategies.  The Index is market-weighted, which 
means the component stocks affect the Index in direct 
proportion to the dollar value of the shares outstanding.  
The components of the Index can change, as S&P adds or 
deletes stocks to reflect changing conditions.

The Standard & Poor's 500 is also broken down into 
smaller industry segments which are monitored separately.  
These segments are industrial (400 companies), 
transportation (20 companies), utilities (40 companies) 
and financial (40 companies.)

PREM:  The PREM Value Index is useful in determining when 
computer driven "buy" or "sell" programs are likely.  
Through computer programs, traders take advantage of 
premiums or discounts between the current price of stocks 
and stock index futures.  Comparing the actual index to 
the futures contract, a trader will quickly sell the more 
expensive of the two and buy the less expensive.  (This 
is an example of "arbitrage.")  This computer-based
activity (known as "program trading") can often 
accentuate sudden swings in the price of certain stocks, 
or cause dramatic shifts in the entire market.  In 
general, when a significant premium exists, buy programs 
are likely to occur.  When a significant discount exists, 
sell programs are likely.  As a contract moves toward 
expiration, the difference between the future and cash 
price will diminish.  As a result, the premium or 
discount needed for a buy or sell program will also get 
smaller.  

30-YR YLD:  The yield of the most recently issued 30-year 
U.S. Treasury Bond.  This is widely used as a benchmark 
for long-term interest rates.  Due to limited data 
availability, it is only shown between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Eastern.

XMI:  The Major Market Index is a price-weighted index of 
20 stocks.  It is the basis for options traded at the 
AMEX and futures traded at the Chicago Board of Trade.

OEX:  Known as the S&P 100, this is used by the Chicago 
Board Options Exchange to trade stock index options.

NYSE:  The NYSE Composite Index, a capitalization-
weighted index of all common stocks listed 
on the New York Stock Exchange, is the basis for options 
and futures traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

TICK:  This is a very short-term trading indicator.  It 
is the difference between the number of NYSE stocks 
trading at a price higher than the previous trade 
("uptick") and the number of stocks trading at a lower 
price than the previous trade ("downtick").  That is, 
TICK = Number of stocks moving higher minus the number of 
stocks moving lower.  A large positive tick (the number
usually ranges between -600 and +600) generally means the 
market is attracting more buyers than sellers.  The 
opposite is true of a large negative number.  The 
direction of the tick is important.  If it is moving in 
a positive direction, (-100, 0, +150), it means the 
market is moving upward.  If the tick is moving in a 
negative direction (+100, 0, -150), it means the market 
is going down.

ARMS:  This used to be called the Trin, or the 
short-term trading index.  It is the ratio of the 
quotient of advancing issues divided by declining issues 
and up volume divided by down volume.

 Advancing Issues / Up Volume
--------------------------------  =  ARMS Index
 Declining Issues / Down Volume

The direction of the ARMS Index is most important.  
A falling ARMS signals a strong market,
while a rising ARMS suggests weakness ahead.
The normal range is from 0.5 to 2.0.

NY ADV:  The number of stocks on the New York Stock 
Exchange that have increased in price from the previous 
day's close.

DEC:  The number of NYSE stocks that have decreased in
price from the previous day's close.

UNCH:  The number of NYSE stocks trading at the same 
price as the previous day's close.

NY VOL UP:  The number of shares that have been traded 
for NYSE stocks that have increased in price from the 
previous day's close.

DN:  The number of shares that have been traded for NYSE 
stocks that have decreased in price from the previous 
day's close.

TOT:  The total number of shares that have been traded in 
NYSE stocks during the current trading day.

VAL:  The Value Line Index is an arithmetic average of 
1700 stocks compiled by Value Line.  It is the basis for 
options traded on the Philadelphia Board of Options 
Exchange.

MID:  The S&P MidCap 400 Index is calculated using the 
price of 400 medium-sized U.S. companies.

WSX:  The Wilshire Small Cap Index measures the 
performance of companies with relatively small 
capitalizations.  It is a market-weighted index that 
includes 250 stocks, chosen on the basis of their market 
capitalization, liquidity and industry group 
representation.  The Small Cap Index originates from the 
Wilshire Next 1750 Index, a benchmark for institutional 
investors in the small cap sector.

SOX:  The Philadelphia Stock Exchange's Semiconductor 
Sector index measures the performance of some of the 
largest and most widely-held U.S. computer chip stocks.
This price-weighted index is made up of 16 stocks, 
including Intel, Micron Technology and Texas Instruments.

MSH:  The Morgan Stanley High-Technology 35 Index is 
designed to measure the performance of the electronics-
based technology industry. Apple Computer, Hewlett-Packard,
IBM and Microsoft are among the 35 stocks in this
equal-dollar weighted index.

BKX:  The Philadelphia Stock Exchange/Keefe, Bruyette &
Woods Bank Sector index is composed of stocks
designed to represent national money center banks and 
leading regional institutions. It is a capitalization-
weighted index.  BancOne, Citicorp and Wells Fargo are 
among the 24 stocks in this index.

CRB:  The Knight-Ridder Commodity Research Bureau Price 
Index tracks 21 commodities.  A decline in the CRB 
indicates commodities prices are falling, which can signal 
lower inflation and interest rates, possibly leading to 
higher bond prices.

XOI:  The AMEX Oil Index includes 16 oil stocks.  An 
increase can indicate rising oil prices, which may lead 
to increased inflation.

XAU:  The Gold and Silver Index is comprised of seven 
stocks on the New York and American Stock Exchanges.  Some 
investors consider gold to be a "safe haven."  As a result,
its price often goes up in times of inflation, 
international finance crises and threats of war.


AMEX AND NASDAQ SUMMARIES:

These summaries provide information about each of these 
exchanges, including the number of advancing and declining 
issues and up and down volume.

AMEX:  The American Stock Exchange Market Value Index 
includes all common stocks listed on the American Stock 
Exchange, weighted by capitalization.

NMS COMP:  Nasdaq's National Market System Composite is 
an index of all issues traded over-the-counter on the 
Nasdaq National Market System 

        Because e-mail can be altered electronically,
        the integrity of this communication cannot be guaranteed.

	So how do I get it to display on the bottom of my monitor on
	my workstation? :-)

These should get you close to what you want...

    Pointcast		http://www.pointcast.com

    IBMinfomarket	http://www.shareware.com

- Jim

    
    Re: related to preceeding ...does anybody know when this service will
    be available ??  Is there any service available now similar to this on
    net ?
    
          {The Wall Street Journal, 13-Feb-96, p. B1}
       Both the software and the updates will be free to users. 
    Advertisers will foot the bill. To start with, they will pay a flat rate 
    of $40,000 each to beam their ads alongside the news.  
    Early advertisers include Saturn Corp., the Electronic Data Systems 
    unit of General Motors and Fidelity Investments.
     Later, PointCast plans to charge for ads based on circulation.  The
    ads themselves will also be tailored to individual users, who will supply
    basic information about themselves, including their gender, ZIP code 
    and the kinds of news they want.

>   Re: related to preceeding ...does anybody know when this service will
>   be available ??  Is there any service available now similar to this on
>   net ?
    
    It is available right now. Or at least, it was yesterday. For PCs
    running Win3.1 and Unix systems. (Mac and other PC O/S coming soon.)
    
    It is VERY slick.
    
    http://www.pointcast.com
    
    You want the "0.9 beta", unless they have a later version already.
    
      John

> It is available right now. Or at least, it was yesterday. For PCs
> running Win3.1 and Unix systems. (Mac and other PC O/S coming soon.)

	It says UNIX is not yet available right now :-(  Neither is NT :-(

	If I had the time I'd reverse engineer their network protocol
	(by acting as a proxy server and intercepting the html going
	back and forth), otherwise I guess I'll have to wait ....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hardware Requirements:

PCN BETA -- Release 0.9b1a:

'486/33 or faster IBM PC-compatible
Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, or Windows95 
8MB of RAM; 10MB free disk space
256 color mode or higher

(Windows NT, Macintosh OS and Unix versions are currently under development)

    It runs under emulation on my Alpha/NT box (4.0 Beta, so I get 486
    emulation). It's a bit pokey, but it's fun to play with.
    
    Wim

    I installed PCN under Win95 last night and I liked it very much!
    
    If they eliminate the 20min delay stock price update I will be more
    than happy to pay for the service.
    
    Any talk of the company going public? 
    
    dan

    
    It's more than a 20 min delay. Yesterday it wasn't updated until after
    4:30 and even then the ticker at the bottom didn't update. It also only
    loads new data once a hour so even if the ticker is only 20 min delayed
    your worst case delay is 80 min.... On the other hand, it's really neat
    and I like the news summary that pops up even so often. I'm running it
    on a laptop with 4Mb of memory and it certanly keeps that disk
    humming..
    
    /Peter