Ticker

ticker

An automated quotation system on which security transactions are reported after they occur on an exchange floor. Even though the newer systems are electronic and no longer actually tick, the name of the old mechanical device has stuck.

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Ticker

A record of the transactions occurring on an exchange on a given trading day, updated in real time or with only a slight delay. Before electronic tickers became common, most records of trading were printed out on strips of paper known as tape. It is more common now to refer to an exchange's live record as a ticker. When tape was common, trading volume sometimes became so heavy for a security that the tape publicly announcing quotes was delayed by a significant amount of time, usually a minute or two. This was called a tape is late situation.

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Ticker (tape). While the stock markets are in session, there is a running record of trading activity in each individual stock. Today's computerized system, still referred to as the ticker, actually replaces the scrolling paper tape of the past.