Blue chips and market tiers: how groups of securities differ
beginner
Automated material · TradeAlmanac editorial deskPrepared by a language model from our stored data and checked by an editor.
Russian equities are conventionally split into tiers. The split is informal but describes a real difference.
The first tier
The largest companies, highly liquid and widely covered by analysts. These are the blue chips. Spreads are narrow, turnover is large, news reaches the price quickly.
The second tier
Smaller companies with markedly lower turnover. Analyst coverage is thinner and the price reaction to news is sharper.
The third tier
Small issuers with infrequent trades. Here a price can move tens of percent on volume that would pass unnoticed in the first tier.
What a tier means
Not business quality. A small profitable company can sit in the third tier and a large loss-making one in the first. A tier describes liquidity and the market's attention.
How it affects decisions
Position size — in an illiquid security it has to be smaller: Liquidity: noticed only once it runs out.
Order type — a market order in the third tier is expensive: Market and limit orders: what speed costs you.
Data expectations — smaller issuers report less often and disclose less: Listing levels: what admission to trading means.
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Prepared by a language model from our stored data and checked by an editor.
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