Stock Market Ticker

Stock Market Ticker May Make You Much Quicker

During weekdays when you flip through any news channel you might see a steady stream of letters and numbers flashing across the bottom of the screen. Most of you know what this is. It is the stock market ticker.

Every stock has a bid and an ask. The bid is what a trader is willing to pay for that stock. The ask is the price another trader is willing to take to part with shares of that stock they own. When the two come together a stock trade results.

The happy medium price which occurs in a trade is called the last quote. This is the number you see on your ticker next to the stock symbol you are tracking. Sometimes that trade just happened. With other tickers, it is relatively ancient history.

Not all tickers are made the same. Some provide for what are called "realtime quotes". This means the price on your ticker is very current. You have up to the minute information allowing you to know the current quote, bid and ask.

However, other tickers provide for delayed quotes. Usually, the time delay is 20 minutes. In the world of stock trading, 20 minutes can be an eternity. The stock might have moved significantly since that old quote thus putting you in the predicament of formulating your bid or ask in the dark.

As with most things, you get what you pay for. Most all delayed quote tickers are free. Most all realtime tickers require payment of some sort. Usually, most all brokerages provide realtime tickers as a part of their service. However, these are not free seeing you are paying for it via a portion of your stock commissions.

Tickers can be quite sophisticated displaying a wide array of data. The more information at a trader's fingertips, the better their prospects are. Many tickers allow for customization allowing the user to create their own dashboard, some taking on the appearance of a jet fighter cockpit display.

On Wall Street there is an adage that goes "take lunch and be lunch". This stems from the fact that removing your eyes from the ticker, even for a brief period, can be costly. To ensure your success, keep a close watch on that stock market ticker.

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