TradeStation Help

Stock Symbology

Stock symbols are shown in the standard format for listed and OTC securities to the left of the decimal, as described below.

• Listed - Stock symbols consist of one to four characters. For example, Chase Corp. is displayed as CCF.
• OTC - Stock symbols consist of four to five characters. For example, Fannie Mae is displayed as FNMFN.

TradeStation-IB Symbology

The symbol syntax is: <SYMB>.<CURR>-<ROUTE>'<ASSET>

Note that there is a period after the SYMB (Ticker Symbol), a hyphen after the CURR (Currency), and an apostrophe after the ROUTE (Order Route).

Details for each term in the symbol syntax are:

• SYMB - the ticker symbol name issued by the exchange (see Listed and OTC above). Note that SYMB is an industry standard symbol name that may trade in multiple currencies and market providers.
• CURR - the currency in which the symbol trades (i.e. USD for US dollars, MXN for Mexican Pecos, etc.) and is dependent upon which country the exchange is located.
• ROUTE - the path of execution for an order. The TradeStation-IB platform defaults to "SMART", similar to "Intelligent" in the US-based version of the TradeStation platform. SMART works similarly in that it seeks out the route with the highest liquidity for a particular symbol.

If there is a specific exchange or ECN you would like to route to directly, for example, (i.e. EDGEA on the NASDAQ exchange, MEXI on the MEXI exchange, etc.). you can enter your route of choice in place of the word "SMART". If you do not know the alternative routes, you can enter a ticker symbol in the Symbol input field and the drop-down-combo box will populate with the available route options for the symbol you entered.

• ASSET - refers to the asset class of the instrument, including:
  • Stock: STK
  • Option: OPT
  • Future: FUT
  • Forex: CASH
  • Contract for Difference: CFD

Examples

Ticker symbol AAPL - Apple Inc.

The following examples represent the full symbol syntax for various routes and asset classes.

• AAPL.USD-SMART'STK: The top default listing if you were to simply enter AAPL in the symbol box.
• AAPL.USD-ARCA'STK: One of the available listed routes for AAPL. The route listings that appear depend on the ticker symbol entered; not all symbols share the same tradable routes.
• AAPL.MXN-MEXI'STK: An available route listing which represents that Apple Inc. stock is traded in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Here, the Mexican peso is the currency and the Mexican stock exchange is the route.
• AAPL.USD-SMART'CFD: The syntax for the Apple Contract for Difference (CFD) for Equities (traded in the Equity tab of the platform).

The following examples represent the short symbol syntax that can be used when typing symbol names into the symbol box.

• AAPL (or any other Nasdaq traded symbol): type the name into the symbol box, press the Enter key, and it will be converted to AAPL.USD-NASDAQ\SMART'STK
• AAPL’CFD: type the name into the symbol box, press the Enter key, and it will be converted to AAPL.USD-SMART’CFD