CNBC Ticker

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The CNBC Ticker is a computer simulation of ticker tapes shown on the lower part of the TV screen on the business television channel CNBC from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, in the U.S. The CNBC Ticker shows security and index symbols just like old ticker tapes that received information by telegraph, but unlike those ticker tapes, it is digital.

The Ticker is sponsored by companies like United Technologies or Charles Schwab, and shows commercial ads from those companies every now and then.

The security identifiers used on the CNBC Ticker are taken from nomenclatures used by third-party companies like Reuters, the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ or the American Stock Exchange (AMEX).

The ticker is composed of a white-background upper band and a dark-blue-background lower band.

On 2007-05-07, there was another notable change to the CNBC US ticker. PowerShares ETF symbols, which trade along the lower band of the ticker, are highlighted in orange.

The ticker is shown during the national commercial breaks. However, the ad inserts from local cable companies may be shown full-screen, which means the ticker may not be shown during local breaks.

Contents

[edit] Upper band

On this picture the upper band shows "BMY 17.1K@25.88▲.41", which means BMY's (Bristol-Myers) last transaction was of 17.1K (17,100) shares @ (at) a bid price of 25.88 USD with a ▲ positive difference of .41 USD. The positive difference is shown by the green color. Red means the difference is negative, i.d., the bid price went down, and dark blue or black means UNCH (unchanged bid price). This particular ticker display was used until the December 19, 2005 relaunch, but was reinstated on July 12, 2006.
On this picture the upper band shows "BMY 17.1K@25.88▲.41", which means BMY's (Bristol-Myers) last transaction was of 17.1K (17,100) shares @ (at) a bid price of 25.88 USD with a ▲ positive difference of .41 USD. The positive difference is shown by the green color. Red means the difference is negative, i.d., the bid price went down, and dark blue or black means UNCH (unchanged bid price). This particular ticker display was used until the December 19, 2005 relaunch, but was reinstated on July 12, 2006.

[edit] CNBC Market Summary

The upper band shows a CNBC Market Summary one minute after every third of an hour (:01, :21, :41), with the symbols of the main indices, e.g.:

[edit] Commodity Summary

It also shows a Commodity Summary one minute after every sixth of an hour (:01, :11, :21, :31, :41, :51) with the Reuters Instrument Code symbols of commodity futures contracts and their delivery months, e.g.:

Complete list of commodity futures shown in the CNBC Ticker's Commodity Summary:

Delivery Month Codes
1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter
January F April J July N October V
February G May K August Q November X
March H June M September U December Z

Since 2005-12-19, full commodity names are displayed alongside the ticker symbols.

[edit] Stocks

During market hours it shows stock symbols of stocks with high trading volumes of the New York Stock Exchange. After market hours it shows an alphabetic list of those symbols. Those symbols have usually three letters, e.g.:

Some symbols also have one or two letters, e.g.:

Since 2005-12-19, the full company names are displayed alongside the ticker symbols.

[edit] Lower band

[edit] Stocks

The lower band shows the stock symbols of the NASDAQ Stock Market and of the American Stock Exchange, e.g.:

[edit] AccuWeather forecast

During the CNBC programs Worldwide Exchange, Squawk Box, and Kudlow & Company, the lower band shows weather forecasts of U.S. and European cities made by Pennsylvanian company AccuWeather, with three-letter or two-letter abbreviations somewhat different from the IATA location identifiers for cities, e.g.

[edit] News Headlines

During Worldwide Exchange and Squawk Box (during the 6am and 7am ET hours only), business news headlines are displayed in addition to the weather (see above). During Kudlow & Company, general news headlines are displayed.

[edit] Fast Money

During the CNBC program Fast Money, the traders' names, along with their respective disclosures, their stock predictions, and viewers' take on their respective stocks via Sprint's text messaging service (which the latter was highlighted in green) were displayed. This particular feature, which was seen only during Fast Money, was discontinued as of 2007-10-10.

[edit] CNBC News Flash

A breaking business news story (ex. "THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD CUTS INTEREST RATES BY A QUARTER POINT") is displayed every two minutes, following the "CNBC News Flash" animation.

[edit] CNBC Europe Ticker

CNBC Europe also broadcasts a similar ticker to the ticker broadcast on CNBC US. It contains information from the major stock exchanges in Western Europe and Scandinavia, including prominently, the London Stock Exchange, the Euronext Paris Exchange, and the Deutsche Börse. Unlike the US ticker prior to December 2005, the full stock names have always been displayed for European shares, not symbols. US companies do however use the same symbols as CNBC US (the full names are now displayed also). The information for the European ticker is provided by Reuters (formerly by Moneyline Telerate), and this is regularly promoted on the ticker.

The CNBC Europe Ticker contains information as follows (the times shown are GMT/BST):

  • Pre-Market (05:00-08:00) : Upper Band: US recaps, Asian Most Actives. Lower Band: Europe Recaps:
  • Market Open (08:00-14:30, 16:00-16:30) Upper Band: Live Trades. Lower Band: Most Actives.
  • US Market Open (14:30-16:00). Upper Band: Europe Live Trades. Lower Band: NYSE / NASDAQ Stock Market / American Stock Exchange Live Trades, CNBC Europe US Market Summary (see CNBC Market Summary above).
  • Post Market (16:30-18:00) : Upper Band: Winners and Losers. Lower Band: Most Actives.
  • US Market Afternoon: (18:00-21:00): This is a simulation by CNBC Europe of the ticker on CNBC US, and contains similar data and a similar format to the "real" CNBC Ticker. The format is slightly different, in terms of fonts used, and the CNBC Europe DOG is displayed, in full colour. No sponsorship is displayed on the ticker.
  • Post US Market (21:00-23:00): Upper Band: US Extended Hours Trades / CNBC Europe US Market Summary. Lower Band: Europe Most Actives.

The ticker has been displayed continuously during the commercial breaks since 2001.

During CNBC Asia programming, the CNBC Asia ticker is displayed (see below).

Outside Europe, the CNBC Europe ticker is only shown on CNBC World.

[edit] CNBC Asia Ticker

CNBC Asia also uses a two-line ticker of similar design to the Europe ticker.

Early in the morning, the top bar features the listed stocks from major market indexes (e.g. DOW 30, FTSE 100) around the world. As the Asian trading day kicks in, the top bar generally provides the most actively traded shares in the region where each country's stock data will be reflected once its market opens. Exceptions to this are in CNBC's Hong Kong, Singapore and Australian feeds where the top bar exclusively features stock information for their respective local stock markets. The bottom bar provides market indices, currencies, bonds and commodity prices.

From 20.00 until 06.00 HK/SIN time, CNBC Asia simulates the old CNBC US ticker (i.e. the one displaying the stock symbols only) with no Commodity Summary.

The information for this ticker is also provided by Reuters.

Like CNBC US and CNBC Europe, CNBC Asia also keeps its ticker shown on the screen during commercial breaks. It has been doing this since 2001.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References