Tick Index

A way to track lyme disease? A measure of how annoying an old clock can be?

No..in this case, we're talking about tracking stock movement.

Specifically, the tick index compares the number of stocks rising at a given moment compared to the number that are posting declines. The index takes the number of shares on the NYSE that have experienced upticks in the most recent moment with the number that ticked lower. It helps rate market sentiment, tracking the amount of general bullishness or bearishness in the market.

Of the roughly 3,000 stocks trading on the NYSE, 2,000-ish tick up at a given time and 1,000 tick down. The tick index would list that as +1000. The opposite situation would show up as -1000 (2,000 ticking down and 1,000 ticking up).