Originally Posted by: snoopy.pa30

Using MetaStock XV and the new MSLocal files.

Now I have a question about the Symbols naming conventions.

I (think) I have figured out that the ".O" extention is for NASDAQ stocks.

I (thought) I had figured out that the ".K" extentions was for "ETFs", but looking for Level 3 Communications Inc (LVLT on NYSE) and I only find LVLT.K.  So now I am confused.

Also found one STI.N ??  What is ".N"

Are there any other conventions on the Sybmols that I should be aware of?

Thanks.

Hi,

Had originally missed this post, but we use RICs (Reuters Instrument Codes) for our symbol formatting.

• .O is used for NASDAQ securities (but this is a composite RIC of all US-based trades for this instrument)
• .OQ by contrast is for NASDAQ securities (but only trades taking place on NASDAQ)
• .K is for NYSE securities that have more than 3 letters (this is also a composite RIC of all US-based trades for this instrument). Traditionally, NYSE securities were 2 and 3 characters in length and had no suffix (i.e. GE)
• .N by contrast is for NYSE securities (but only trades taking place on NYSE)

Most people want the composite instruments, so .N and .OQ are less commonly used.

.STI.N is a market statistic. Most market statistics will have an exchange suffix on the end of them (.STI.OQ is also an example).