A stock symbol or ticker is a unique code used to identify publicly traded shares of a particular company on a specific stock market. Ticker symbols are typically one to four letters and provide important information such as the underlying stock, expiration date, and call/put indicator. They are also used to represent different types of shares, such as A and B class shares for NASDAQ stocks or American Depository Receipt shares. Ticker symbols are often abbreviated versions of company names and are used for trading purposes. They are also commonly used to search for stock images and are found in the Shutterstock collection. In the world of trading futures, various letters and symbols correspond to different futures contracts, months of expiry, and exchanges. The code is called a "ticker symbol" because it is displayed on a ticker tape, which records stock market transactions in real-time. Ticker symbols are usually one to five letters in length and are unique to each company.