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How to Read Stock Quotes

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Columns 1 & 2: 52-Week High and Low (52 Week Range) - These are the highest and lowest prices at which a stock has traded over the previous 52 weeks (one year). This typically does not include the previous day's trading. This is often listed in internet quote trading as 52 week range. 

Column 3: Company Name & Type of Stock - This column lists the name of the company. If there are no special symbols or letters following the name, it is common stock. Different symbols imply different classes of shares. For example, "pf" means the shares are preferred stock. 

Column 4: Ticker Symbol - This is the unique alphabetic name which identifies the stock. If you watch financial TV, you have seen the ticker tape move across the screen, quoting the latest prices alongside this symbol. If you are looking for stock quotes online, you always search for a company by the ticker symbol. If you don't know what a particular company's ticker is you can search for it at: . 

Column 5: Dividend Per Share - This indicates the annual dividend payment per share. If this space is blank, the company does not currently pay out dividends. 

Column 6: Dividend Yield - The percentage return on the dividend. Calculated as annual dividends per share divided by price per share. 

• If you’re looking to turn a profit on stocks, the dividend and yield are probably the first places you look. The dividend is the payment the company pays to shareholders based on its profits. The yield is the dividend expressed as a percentage of the price per share. And while a high dividend is good, an extremely high yield definitely isn’t: extremely high yields can point to a company in some financial trouble.

Column 7: Price/Earnings Ratio - This is calculated by dividing the current stock price by earnings per share from the last four quarters (usually). The price to earnings ratio reflects the relationship between the price per share and the income earned per share by the company in which the shares are held. For example, if a company is currently trading at $43 a share and earnings over the last 12 months were $1.95 per share, the P/E ratio for the stock would be 22.05 ($43/$1.95).

• Generally a high P/E ratio means that investors are anticipating higher growth in the future.

• Companies that are losing money do not have a P/E ratio.

Column 8: Trading Volume - This figure shows the total number of shares traded for the day, listed in hundreds. To get the actual number traded, add "00" to the end of the number listed. 

Column 9 & 10: Day High and Low (Day’s Range) - This indicates the price range at which the stock has traded at throughout the day. In other words, these are the maximum and the minimum prices that people have paid for the stock. On many internet quotes this is listed as “Days Range.”

Column 11: Close (Previous Close) - The close is the last trading price recorded when the market closed on the previous day. If the closing price is up or down more than 5% than the previous day's close, the entire listing for that stock is bold-faced. Keep in mind, you are not guaranteed to get this price if you buy[pic] the stock the next day because the price is constantly changing (even after the exchange is closed for the day). The close is merely an indicator of past performance and except in extreme circumstances serves as a ballpark of what you should expect to pay. This is also listed as “previous close” on internet quotes.

Column 12: Net Change - This is the dollar value change in the stock price from the previous day's closing price. When you hear about a stock being "up for the day," it means the net change was positive. 

Quotes on the Internet 

Today it is far more convenient for most to get stock quotes off the Internet. This method is superior because most sites update throughout the day and give you more information, news, charting, research, etc. 

To get quotes, simply enter the ticker symbol into the quote box of any major financial site likeYahoo! Finance, CBS Marketwatch, Google Finance, or MSN Moneycentral. The example below shows a quote for Microsoft (MSFT) from Yahoo Finance Interpreting the data is exactly the same as with the newspaper.  However, quotes on the internet give additional information and may have a slightly different format based on what site you go to.

Extra Symbols:

Open

The open is the price of the first share of stock sold today.

EPS (Earnings per share) is the amount of money that you would have earned if you purchased a share of this stock last quarter and sold it today. It’s a useful indicator of how a stock will do if you plan to sell it in the short term, but if you’re planning to hold it long-term, the EPS is less of a concern.

Market Cap

Market capitalization estimates the total dollar value of the company who’s stock is being traded. It’s determined by multiplying the total number of shares by the last trade

Bid & Ask

It’s common to see both the bid and ask sections of a stock quote blank, or listed as ‘N/A’. A bid is the highest price that a principle brokerage firm has announced it’s willing to pay for a share of a specific stock at a specific time. The ask is the opposite: it’s the lowest price that a firm has said it’s willing to sell a particular stock at.

1y Target Est

The one-year target estimate is an analyst’s projection of what the price for a single share of this stock one year from today. But because of all the variables in the market, these projections can vary extremely between analysts. I wouldn’t bet the house on a one-year target estimate.

Beta 

Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility in relation to the market. By definition, the market has a beta of 1.0, and individual stocks are ranked according to how much they deviate from the market. A stock that swings more than the market over time has a beta above 1.0. If a stock moves less than the market, the stock's beta is less than 1.0. High-beta stocks are supposed to be riskier but provide a potential for higher returns; low-beta stocks pose less risk but also lower returns.

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Using the Charts above, answer the following questions:

1. What was the closing price on this day for one share of Revlon?

2. Is Revlon’s stock trading at a higher or lower price than yesterday? How do you know?

3. Is Rite Aid nearer to its yearly high or low?

4. How many shares of Rite Aid were traded on this particular day?

5. What are the stock ticker symbols for Revlon and

Rite Aid?

6. Did either Revlon or Rite Aid pay a dividend?

7. What would you guess was the general trend of the market on this particular day? Explain what information led you to this conclusion.

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