| Frustrated by all the symbols in a stock | | | | Open: Price the stock opened at today or |
| quote? Here's a basic overview to | | | | if weekend or holiday last day it traded |
| reading a stock quote on Yahoo Finance. | | | | Bid: What various investors are looking |
| If you're like many new stock market | | | | to buy the stock for at the current |
| investors you are learning all sorts of | | | | moment |
| new things, one of the many things you | | | | Ask: What various investors are willing |
| need to know is how to read a stock | | | | to sell the stock for at the current |
| quote. | | | | moment |
| Yahoo Finance has a nice stock quote | | | | 1 yr Est: Estimate for the stock's price |
| page, please follow along and go to this | | | | in one year's time |
| web page and find out what everything | | | | Day's Range: The range in price the |
| means. | | | | stock has traded that day |
| Near the top of the page it will tell | | | | 52wk Range: Stock price from low to high |
| you that you are looking up Microsoft | | | | over the past year of trading |
| Corp. (MSFT) this tells us what company | | | | Volume: Number of shares of stock traded |
| we are looking at. You will then see the | | | | so far today |
| last price (which is delayed 20 minutes) | | | | Avg. Vol (3m): Average number of shares |
| and you will see how much the stock has | | | | traded each day for the past 3 months |
| gone up or down for the day. | | | | Market Cap: This is the market price for |
| If you scroll down the page you will | | | | the company take the number of shares |
| find a table with a bunch of data. | | | | outstanding and multiple by the price of |
| Last Trade: This is the last trade that | | | | the stock |
| happened on this stock (delayed 20 | | | | P/E: Price to earnings ratio |
| minutes) | | | | EPS: Earnings per share |
| Trade Time: This is the date or the time | | | | Div & Yield: The dividend (if any) that |
| of the trade | | | | you could receive from the company for |
| Change: Amount the stock traded up or | | | | owning stock |
| down in dollars and percentage | | | | Those are the basic items on that Yahoo |
| Prev. Close: The amount the stock closed | | | | finance page; you can also find charts, |
| at the last day it traded. Generally the | | | | headlines and some more background |
| day before, unless holiday or weekend | | | | information on the company. |