Preferred Ticker Symbols & Security Names

In the paragraphs below we attempt to shed some light on the very confusing subject of preferred and income securities ticker symbols and security names. On the QuantumOnline (QOL) website, and I’m sure all other websites, preferred ticker symbols cause the most confusion and generate more questions than most other problems combined.

Preferred Stock Ticker Symbols

Preferred stock ticker symbols are confusing — to everyone. There is no single system of ticker symbols in use for preferred stocks. The correct ticker symbol for a preferred stock depends on whose information you are accessing. The NYSE preferred ticker symbol format often used to refer to preferred and income securities is the xxxPR x, xxPR x, xPR x, xxPR. etc. format where the x’s represent any letter. The basic problem with this NYSE ticker symbol system is that it is incompatible with the Nasdaq ticker system where symbols in the xxPR x, xPR x, xxPR formats are not preferred stocks. Therefore a single ticker symbol system incorporating the NYSE symbol system can not be used as a universal system for anyone listing both NYSE and Nasdaq preferred securities. The system even precludes any fancy programming to identify preferreds without requiring the input of the stock exchange in conjunction with the ticker symbol.

One further problem with preferred ticker symbols is that various information sources will throw in spaces in the symbols when they refer to an income security’s ticker symbol. For example, you will see a xxxPR x ticker symbol referred to as xxx PR x, xxx PR x, etc. This type of reference can come from the company issuing the security, from the financial media (especially general newspapers), and even from the stock exchanges themselves. Those spaces may be fine for people but computers have no sense of humor at all concerning them and the computer just doesn’t find the security you want when you add spaces to the ticker symbol.

As a result of the above, there are a considerable variety of preferred ticker symbols in use. The NYSE uses ticker symbols in the form of xxxPR x for preferred stocks. We use a ticker symbol of xxx- x for the same stock. Why? The basic reason is actually that our quote service provides prices to us using the xxx-x system (which is probably the most common general ticker symbol system). To make things more interesting, you can enter either xxxPR x or xxx- x on the NYSE website to find the same preferred — they both work (note: this is no longer true as of February 2004 as the NYSE has apparently discontinued the use of the dash in symbols). The NYSE Amex uses a xxxp x system, Yahoo! uses a xxx-p x system, Fidelity uses a xxxPR x system, Charles Schwab uses both the xxx/PR x and the xxx+ x system, S&P uses the xxx- x system, Quicken uses a xxx PR x system (that’s a space), Scottrade uses the xxxp x system, others use the xxx‘ x or an xxxx (they just drop the PR, -, etc.) symbol system and there are other symbol systems in use.

To attempt to make these differing symbol systems clearer, we have provided three examples in the table below of the ticker symbol for three specific preferreds on different company’s systems. The first example of a preferred stock’s ticker symbol is for the Alabama Power Co. 5.20% Preferred Stock’s ticker symbol which is ALP-N in our system, ALPPRN on the NYSE, ALPpN if it was on the NYSE Amex, ALP-pN on Yahoo, ALPPRN on Fidelity, ALP/PRN or ALP+N on Charles Schwab, ALP-N on S&P, ALP PRN on Quicken, and ALPpN in Scottrade. A second example of preferred stock ticker symbols would be the ABC Bancorp Capital Trust I 9.00% Trust Preferred Securities’ ticker symbol which is BHC- in our system, BHCPR on the NYSE, BHCp if it was on the NYSE Amex, BHC-p on Yahoo, BHCPR on Fidelity, BHC/PR or BHC+ on Charles Schwab, BHC- on S&P, BHC PR on Quicken, and BHCp in Scottrade. A third example of preferred stock ticker symbols would be the Citigroup Capital IX 6% TruPS Capital Securities’s ticker symbol which is C-S in our system, CPRS on the NYSE, CpS if it was on the NYSE Amex, C-pS on Yahoo, CPRS on Fidelity, C/PRS or C+S on Charles Schwab, C-S on S&P, C PRS on Quicken, and CpS in Scottrade.

Examples of Preferred Stock Ticker Symbols

The following table lists the above examples in table form which hopefully makes the examples easier to see and understand.

Quote Source