ETFs Adopt Humorous Ticker Symbols

Some exchange-traded funds are adopting humorous ticker symbols, in an effort to be memorable and stand out in an increasingly crowded field, MarketWatch reports.

"The hope is a ticker that sticks in people's heads," said Noel Archard, a principal with Vanguard. "A good ticker doesn't mean more trading volume or assets necessarily, but still, it can't hurt."

A new bearish ProShares fund, the Short Dow 30 ProShares Fund, for instance, sports a ticker symbol DOG as a play on the "dogs of the Dow," while a Rydex fund that invests in the 50 largest U.S. stocks by market capitalization has the ticker symbol XLG. The iShares Lehman TIPS Fund has the ticker TIP, and the PowerShares Water Resources Portfolio has the symbol H2O.

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