NYSE TICK
This is the NYSE Cumulative Tick. Most feed vendors source this figure directly from the NYSE where it is calculated every 6 seconds.
Last updated: 10-Oct-2010
What is NYSE TICK?
The $TICK represents the net ticks of all stocks on the NYSE.
The tick is the direction in which the price of a stock moved on its last sale. An up-tick means the last trade was at a higher price than the one before it and a down-tick means the last sale price was lower than the one before it. A zero-plus tick means the transaction was at the same price as the one before, but still higher than the nearest preceding different price. A zero-plus tick is not used in the calculation of $TICK.
If 500 stocks ticked up, 250 ticked down, and the rest remained unchanged then the value of $TICK would be +250. If 1200 stocks ticked down and 50 ticked up then $TICK would be -1150.
Day traders use the value of $TICK in timing when to enter long and short trades and when at extremes this is sometimes an indicator to exit a trade.