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If you’re just starting out learning how the stock market works, reading the stock tables in the paper can be confusing. Learning how to read stocks won’t take much time, though, and it’s very important.
There are twelve columns in the table, and you’ll notice that each stock has its own line in this table. Let’s examine the first two columns, which are usually named something like “52W High” and 52W Low.” These tell you about the stock’s performance over the last year. The names are pretty suggestive; “52W High” reveals the highest value the stock has reach in the past 52 weeks. Its lowest value shows up in the “52W Low.”
In the follow column you’ll see the actual name of the stock. This will be followed by another column that shows the stock’s ticker symbol. Every stock is given a unique combination of letters. Perhaps you’ll even recognize a few (or more than a few) of these tickers. They periodically run across the bottom of the screen of cable news networks.
By the way, watching some of the financial shows could be a good idea. It will further your knowledge even more on how to read stocks and understand the way the market works.
There’s another column next to the ticker column, and it’s labeled “Div.” This column shows you the annual dividend the stock pays out for each share. You’ll know the stock doesn’t pay out dividends if this particular column is blank. The same goes for the next column – “Yield %” – the percentage return on the dividend.
The earnings ratio is indicated by P/E. You get this number by dividing the current stock price by the earnings per share for the last four quarters.
The next two columns are “High” and “Low.” You’ll be able to see the lowest and highest point the stock has reached in the day’s trading. “Close” is the point at which the stock closed that day, and “Net Change” shows the change from the day before.
You’ll be able to move on and learn even more about the stock market once you have a basic understanding of how to read stocks.
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- Carlie Evie