Article Directory

If you're just starting out learning how the stock market works, reading the stock tables in the paper can be confusing. Though it might be intimidating, it's important to learn how to read stocks. Don't worry, it won't take much time.

There are twelve columns in the table, and you'll notice that each stock has its own line in this table. To find out how the stock has been performing over the past year, look at the first two columns-- these will be labeled something to the effect of "52W High" and "52W Low." "52W High" shows the highest point the stock has reached in the past 52 weeks, and "52W Low" shows the lowest.

The next column is the name of the stock itself, followed by another column showing the stock's ticker symbol. Each stock has a unique combination of letters. You will probably recognize some of these from the tickers that run across the bottom of the screen sometimes on the cable news networks.

Speaking of TV, you might want to watch the financial shows. They can give you a lot of help and information that will show you how to read stocks and understand the stock market even better.

"Div" is the column that comes after the ticker column. This indicates the stock's annual dividend paid out per share. Many rows will have this column blank, which means they don't currently pay out dividends. The percentage return on the dividend shows up in the "Yield %" column, though it too will be blank if the stock doesn't pay out dividends.

P/E is the price to earnings ratio. Dividing the current stock price by earnings per share for the last four quarters gives you this number.

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.

With a basic understanding of how to read stocks, you can now move on and start learning more about the market itself.