What’s in a symbol?

Starting Monday, Sprint Nextel took over the stock symbol “S” from Sears, which now is a private company. The newly merged telecom now joins a select group of venerable – and some not so venerable – corporations identified on trading tickers by a single letter.

Among the symbols and their owners: A, Agilent Technologies; C, Citigroup; F, Ford; G, Gillette; K, Kellogg; Q, Qwest; T, AT&T; and X, U.S. Steel.