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How to Read Stocks With These Simple Tips

Reading the stock tables in the newspaper can be very confusing when you're just learning about the stock market. It's important to learn how to read stocks, though, and it won't take a lot of 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." You'll see the highest point the stock has achieved in the last 52 weeks in the "52W High" column. Its lowest value will be in the "52W Low" column.

The next column is the name of the stock itself, followed by another column showing 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. If you see a blank space in this column, that means the stock doesn't pay dividends right now. The same rule also applies to the very 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.

"High" and "Low" are the next two columns. You'll be able to see the lowest and highest point the stock has reached in the day's trading. "Net Change" shows the change from the day before; "Close" tells you the point when the stock closed for the day.

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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