INVESTMENT OPINION
Fun with Ticker Symbols
How much can you learn about a company from its ticker symbol? More than one might expect, in some cases. Although the three-letter ticker symbols that come with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the American Stock Exchange (ASE or AMEX) do not convey much extra information, the helpful folks at the Nasdaq National Market System (NMS) have created an entire system to highlight important facts about the security that you are buying or selling.
First and foremost, it is the Nasdaq that has those four-letter tickers. Anything that has three letters has to be on the NYSE or the AMEX. It is when a Nasdaq ticker has five symbols that the fun starts -- that fifth letter is always a special designation for the company from the Nasdaq Exchange in order to alert investors that something is different about the company. It can be as simple as telling investors that there are two classes of shares, one with more voting power than the other, or as important as telling you the sucker is bankrupt. Here are a few with examples for your perusal:
-A, -B, -C -- These all communicate to you that there is more than one class of shares. Sometimes companies can get so complicated they will have three classes of shares. Rather than putting a slash between the A, B or C shares like the NYSE or the AMEX, the Nasdaq just integrates it into the ticker. EXAMPLE: GREENWICH AIR, which trades under GASIA and GASIB.
-E -- This tells you that for some reason the company is being carried on the Nasdaq in spite of the fact it has been exempted from exchange listing requirements. Most times it is because a company has failed to file earnings within 45 days of completing their fiscal quarter, although it can happen when a company violates listing requirements. EXAMPLE: CHANTAL PHARMACEUTICALS, which traded under the CHTLE until recently, when it filed its quarterly report and got to become CHTL again.
-F -- Does the company operate in Canada, the Netherlands or Israel? If so, they will have the -F for foreign tacked on to the ticker. EXAMPLE: COGNOS, which is COGNF.
-Q -- The scarlet Q significant a company that is currently operating under bankruptcy protection. Unfortunately, we don't have an example handy.
-X -- This ain't a stock... it's an open-end mutual fund! EXAMPLE: PBHG GROWTH, which is PBHGX.
-W, -Z -- These are warrants, which are call options issued by a company. A warrant is an agreement by the company to issue you a set amount of shares at a certain point at some specified future date. EXAMPLE: INTEL'S warrants, probably the most famous, INTCW.
-Y -- Anything with the letter Y added is an American Depository Receipt (ADR). Rather than directly trading on an American Exchange, ADRs represent a share held in trust in a bank based in the foreign country. EXAMPLE: CANON INC., which trades as CANNY.
CELGENE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: CELG)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: CELG)") end if %> rose $1 1/8 to $10 3/8 today after naming a former INTERNATIONAL PAPER <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: IP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: IP)") end if %> executive as its chief financial officer (CFO).
Athletic and apparel giant NIKE INC. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: NKE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: NKE)") end if %> slam-dunked its quarter today, bringing home $1.06 EPS versus $0.78 EPS a year ago -- seven cents higher than consensus estimates. Shares rose $4 1/2 to $108 3/4 as the company reported that orders scheduled for delivery between June and November were up 55% over last year.
CASINO DATA SYSTEMS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: CSDS)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: CSDS)") end if %> popped up $1 to $14 3/4 today after Merrill Lynch initiated coverage with "near-term buy" and "long-term buy" ratings. The company develops information systems for gaming establishments.
Medical device manufacturer BOSTON SCIENTIFIC <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BSX)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BSX)") end if %> surged $2 3/4 to $42 5/8 after it told investors to expect quarterly revenues of $357 million versus $272.2 million last year, well above consensus expectations. It warned that profits from these revenues would be impaired by exchange rates, however.
PRI AUTOMATION <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PRIA)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PRIA)") end if %> surged $3 to $35 5/8 today when the company announced a $15 million order from Seimens. The reason for the move today could also be a press release telling the Street that PRI will sell more semiconductor fabrication plant automation systems this year than it did last year.
MACROMEDIA <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MACR)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MACR)") end if %> finally announced what had been rumored for almost a month -- that its first quarter will come in below expectations. The software developer dropped $4 3/8 to $14 7/8 -- well off the $38 levels it sat at on June 10th when these rumors first started to impact the stock.
Telecommunications equipment manufacturer DIALOGIC <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: DLGC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: DLGC)") end if %> got crushed for $16 3/4 to $30 after reporting that it will only make $0.24 EPS to $0.28 EPS compared to expectations of $0.33 EPS in the second quarter. Weakness overseas was blamed for the shortfall.
MID-ATLANTIC MEDICAL <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MME)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MME)") end if %> was mashed for $1 1/2 to $12 3/4 today after the Mid-Atlantic health maintenance organization (HMO) pre-announced a loss of five to ten cents a share compared to expectations of a $0.20 EPS profit. Cost overruns in its Virginia Medicare business are to blame for its medical loss ratio increasing from 83% to 95%.
Smith Barney got out the hatchet this morning and hacked $1 7/8 to $31 3/4 off of KOHL'S CORP <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: KSS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: KSS)") end if %>. An analyst at the firm downgraded the retailer from "buy" to "neutral" based on tough upcoming same-store sales comparisons and the interest-rate risk in its large credit card portfolio. Yearly estimates were left unchanged at $1.37 EPS.
SYMANTEC <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SYMC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: SYMC)") end if %> just has not been the same since Windows95 failed to meet its aggressive expectations. The developer of utility software for the Windows platform dropped $1 3/8 to $10 after it announced first quarter revenue would be below analyst's expectations.
LSI LOGIC <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: LSI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: LSI)") end if %> was mashed for $1 3/8 to $22 1/8 when Rick Whittington of SoundView Financial downgraded it to a "hold" from "short-term buy" this morning.
Those who sold BUSINESS OBJECTS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: BOBJY)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: BOBJY)") end if %> last week when its competitor PRISM SOLUTIONS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PRZM)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PRZM)") end if %> pre-announced a bad quarter saved some money today -- the French data warehousing concern dropped $27 5/8 to $2 5/8 when it reported that it would make only $0.10 EPS to $0.12 EPS.
Oppenheimer started OXFORD HEALTH PLANS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: OXHP)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: OXHP)") end if %> as a "market-performer", dunking the fast-growing health maintenance organization (HMO) $1 7/8 to $38 1/4 today.
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