Each exchange (and each organized market)
establishes standards a company must meet to be
listed,
or eligible to be traded, on that exchange. Those standards include
the company’s
market
capitalization,
the number of shares available for trading,
and other financial factors. The requirements can be changed at
the exchange’s discretion.
A company that qualifies for listing on more
than one exchange or market may choose the one where it wants
to be traded. And a company may switch from one to the other if
it wishes. While stocks may be listed on a regional exchange,
such as the ones in Boston and Chicago, as well as the New York
Stock Exchange, no stocks are listed on both the NYSE and the
NASDAQ Stock Market.
Every listed stock is identified by a distinctive
symbol of one to five letters. In many cases, the symbol has an
obvious connection to the company issuing the stock, such as K
for Kellogg or GE for General Electric. Other times, it’s
a greater stretch, either because the most obvious symbol is already
being used, or because the connection between the name and the
symbol isn’t overt. One example is the symbol DNA for the
biotechnology firm Genentech.
