Before I delve any further into my ‘Education’ segment, I want to catch those up who I have dubbed, “The Absolute Beginners”. These are the people who know absolutely nothing about the stock market, which is fine (there are millions who know absolutely nothing about the stock market). Hopefully, this article can catch these beginners up so they can understand the ‘Education’ segment.
When you own shares of stock, you own a part of the corporation. The sale of stock by a corporation is a way for them to raise income. This is done when a company releases shares in its initial public offering (IPO). After the IPO is released, shares are traded (Sold and Bought) amongst investors.
From the burger you ate earlier today (McDonalds), to the shirt you have on your back (Ralph Lauren), to the very computer you are reading this article on (Dell). These are just three examples. There are way too many companies to list (thousands!). If you enjoyed a restaurant you dined at the other night, see if they are publicly traded! If a certain brand of clothing fits and looks better on you than others, see if they are publicly traded! You can usually find this by looking them up on a search engine or just click this link and entering the company’s name.
I found the company I was looking for!.. What are all these numbers?
If you look at Starbucks’ Yahoo Finance page you will stumble upon two columns that consist of numbers. What do these numbers mean?
Last Trade: The current price of one share
Trade Time: Don’t worry
Change: The increase or decrease from the previous trading day
Prev Close: The price of one share the previous trading day
Open: The cost of one share at the start of today’s trading day
Bid: Don’t worry
Ask: Don’t worry
1y Target Est: The price analyst estimate one share will be worth in 1 year
Column 2:
Day’s Range: The high and low of this current day
52wk Range: The high and low of the past 52 weeks
Volume: The number of shares either bought or sold in today’s trading day
Avg Volume (3m): The average daily volume from the past 3 months
Market Cap: The total value of the company’s outstanding shares
P/E: Price to Earnings Ratio (Wrote a previous article explaining this)
EPS: Earnings Per Share
Div & Yield: The amount of dividend given per share
- There are 4 quarters in a year. In each quarter the company reports its earnings.
- Yahoo finance is an investor’s best friend.
I know this was brief, but hopefully this might answer some questions for the ‘Absolute Beginner’. Read some of the other articles and put the pieces together! If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment.
2 comments:
Hello I am the kinofjersey from Yahoo Answers. I am actually from New Jersey, not Jersey in England
I knew you were from New Jersey. I was born in Somerville and lived in New Brunswick and North Brunswick. I currently reside in Florida.
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