Q&A  |  SEP 2009

Q&A by Don Bright

Q&A by Don Bright YAHOO OPEN Why does Yahoo! Finance list the opening price for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Djia) at 8,146.82 when on the daily chart at 8:30 the price is 8,167? This may be a newbie question, but I sure would like to know. Thanks. —newtrader80 The opening price on the Djia is the same as the closing price from the day before. What happens is that you may see other data vendors using the 9:30 a.m. snapshot where perhaps a few Djia stocks have opened. A similar thing happens with individual stocks. You have what is referred to as “primary market” (Nyse, for example) versus “consolidated market” pricing used by different vendors. For example, I use primary market for all my quotes through the GS Redi platform so that I am sure of the actual opening and closing prices. Some of our traders opt for the consolidated quote that will take that same snapshot at 9:30, which may be premarket pricing on the various electronic communication networks (Ecns). Hope this helps.

by Don Bright